At an age when many engineering graduates are preparing for corporate jobs, Shreepoorna S Rao decided to build aircraft capable for capturing high-resolution images from the sky at a fraction of satellite costs.
The 23-year-old founder of Arctus Aerospace, who studied Civil Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, said that he had been building aircraft since Class 7. Today, his Bengaluru-based startup is developing high attitude unmanned aircraft aimed at defence, Earth observation applications, infrastructure and Earth observation applications.
While speaking on the Mundhe Banni podcast, Rao stated, “I have been building aircrafts for like the last 10 years of my life.”
From school science projects to aerospace dreams
Rao stated that his interest in aerospace began during a school competition that took him to IIT Kharagpur in Class 7. During his visit , he saw aircraft models and wind tunnels of rthe first time.
“As soon as I went there, there was an aerospace department. That’s where I got hooked to airplanes,” he said.
As per his LinkedIn profile, Rao later joined IIT Madras in 2020, where he became deeply involved in aerospace and product design clubs. He has also worked on startup ideas during college, including a crypto-fintech venture called Flex Finance before fully shifting his focus to aerospace.
Rao also mentioned that he skipped placements despite pressure from family members because he wanted to set up his own company. “I just took a flight and came home. Placements were going on, and I was in Mangaluru.” He stated while remembering his decision to avoid corporate recruitment interviews.
What does Arctus Aerospace actually do?
Arctus Aerospace is building unmanned aircraft that can fly between 20,000 and 45,000 feet for long durations while capturing extremely high-resolution Earth observation data.
Rao claimed that the startup’s aircraft can produce imagery at centimetre-level resolution. “Whether they are holding a phone or holding a gun, a jacket or a bomb vest, everything is visible,” he said while explaining defence applications of the technology.
The startup believes existing satellite-based imaging systems are expensive and often fail to provide continuous real-time monitoring. Rao mentioned that the aircraft based systems can offer better operational monitoring for industries such as oil and gas, agriculture, logistics and insurance.
“What we realised is that these technology platforms are 20-25 years old,” he said, adding that Arctus aims to build a lower-cost alternative using modern materials, software and electronics.
The company currently operates from a 25,000 square feet facility in Bengaluru and is developing a larger aircraft capable of flying for 24 hours continuously while carrying multiple payload systems.
Funding, investors and the startup journey
The startup’s journey also attracted attention from prominent investors.
Rao revealed during the podcast that a viral social media post helped him connect with tech investor Balaji Srinivasan, who later backed the startup.
“Balaji slid into my DMs and told me, ‘If you are building a company, send me an email,’” Rao said.
According to Rao, the startup later raised around USD 2.6 million in pre-seed funding from investors including South Park Commons, Balaji Srinivasan and OpenAI CTO Srinivas Narayanan.
Rao credited IIT Madras’ innovation ecosystem for shaping his entrepreneurial journey. “Students build cool stuff there,” he said while describing the institute’s Centre for Innovation.
Despite the funding and early customer interest, Rao said the company remains focused on building its final product rather than rapid commercial expansion.
“What we want is for this airplane to be the best aircraft in the world,” he said.