Tonbo Imaging Raises ₹175 Crore in Series D Pre-IPO Round to Advance Infrared Sensor Development and Directed Energy Weapon Platforms

Tonbo Imaging, a global leader in strategic defense technologies, has successfully closed its Series D pre-IPO funding round, securing ₹175 crore from Florintree Advisors, Tenacity Ventures and the Export-Import Bank of India. This investment will accelerate the development of next-generation infrared sensors, commercial deployment of high-power microwave technologies to counter modern battlefield threats and working capital support for global expansion ongoing programs.

The funding comes as Tonbo prepares to file for its IPO, a strategic move aimed to take advantage of both organic and inorganic opportunities in the fast growing and dynamic C4ISR market.

Inspired by nature’s most advanced visual predator, the Dragonfly, Tonbo Imaging designs cutting-edge sensing and processing systems that enhance situational awareness, targeting precision, and autonomous battlefield operations.

Having previously raised over ₹300 crore from investors such as Artiman, Qualcomm, Celesta, Edelweiss, and HBL Engineering, Tonbo is a trusted global supplier of battlefield-proven system ms. Its technology is deployed in over 30 countries by elite defense forces, including the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), U.S. Navy SEALs, NATO, the Armenian Ministry of Defense, and the Indian Ministry of Defense. Tonbo’s innovations have played a critical role in major combat missions, including the URI surgical strike, IDF counterinsurgency operations, the modernization of India’s Arjun Main Battle Tank, Bharat Dynamics’ Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) program, and multiple active NATO deployments, reinforcing its position as a leading defense innovator.

Arvind Lakshmikumar, Founder and CEO of Tonbo Imaging, commented: 

Tonbo was founded with the vision of democratizing access to high-end defense technology. As the modern day battlefield evolves towards nimble, autonomous reconnaissance and targeting systems, the key technologies will be better sensors, low power computer vision and non-conventional munitions. This investment enables us to push the boundaries of innovation in infrared imaging and directed energy solutions while scaling our global footprint. Our focus remains on delivering cost-effective, cutting-edge battlefield intelligence and protection systems to modern defense forces worldwide.

Mathew Cyriac, Founder of Florintree Capital, added: "Tonbo Imaging represents the future of defense technology. With its deep expertise in imaging, artificial intelligence, and autonomous systems, the company is well-positioned to address emerging global security challenges. We are excited to partner with Arvind and his management team to scale the business and build a global defense tech business out of India."

Rohit Razdan, co-founder of Tenacity Ventures noted on the rationale of the investment: "We have admired Tonbo for a while and are excited to get a chance to invest towards the next phase of growth. Tenacity was formed to support companies like Tonbo – best in class products rooted in deep technology and domain understanding. Tonbo products bring great software with high quality hardware that is seeing strong traction in domestic and global markets. We are confident that Tonbo will emerge as a significant India based global leader in this defence sector over the next several years."

Tonbo Imaging Bags $17 Mn From WRV Capital In Series B Funding

Defence startup Tonbo Imaging has raised $17 million in series-B funding led by WRV Capital, the largest private venture investment in the domestic defence technology space. In the current round, Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of Qualcomm Incorporated, Edelweiss Private Equity and existing investor Artiman Ventures also participated in Tonbo's latest fundraise.

With this latest investment, Ganapathy Subramaniam from WRV Capital and Pranav Parikh from Edelweiss Private Equity have joined Tonbo's board of directors.

Commenting on the development, Nicholas Brathwaite, Managing Director, WRV Capital said “Based on our experience in building and investing in imaging businesses globally, we believe that Tonbo is very well-positioned for rapid growth in both military and commercial markets. We will work closely with Tonbo to expand the use of their imaging platform into new market opportunities including surveillance and automotive applications.”

Building on this momentum, Tonbo will use the financing to continue expanding its global reach in defense markets, accelerate product growth and innovation in automotive safety markets and continue evaluating strategic acquisition opportunities in specialized technology areas of lasers and photonics.

“We plan to spend the funds on scaling up our international operations, which constitutes 70% of our revenue and invest in R&D and product development on commercial businesses. We are (also) looking at acquiring companies with expertise in lasers and photonics, and are in discussion with a few firms worldwide,” said Arvind Lakshmikumar, Chief Executive, Tonbo Imaging.

The Bengaluru-based startup that partners with the Indian military was founded in 2008 by BITS-Pilani alumni Arvind Lakshmikumar. Tonbo Imaging has been a pioneer in computational imaging and machine learning driven image acquisition. Tonbo’s technology combines fundamental innovations in the image acquisition process along with powerful computer vision algorithms to support superior imaging and scene interpretation for a wide range of applications.

Tonbo leverages the computing power of consumer electronics hardware and economies of scale of contract manufacturing to build systems that outperform existing technology in size, weight, power, and cost.

Our goal is to “democratize night vision imaging technology” says Lakshmikumar. “Our technology leverages the power of computational imaging on consumer electronics hardware to provide our customers with the most sophisticated imaging packages that are needed for the harshest of military applications. While this technology has been military qualified, it has also been built to move into mainstream commercial applications. We are working actively to see large-scale adoption of this technology for vehicle safety and other autonomous operations,” he added.

With Tonbo’s technology, night vision has become cheaper, easier to integrate and completely unrestricted. Over the past five years, Tonbo’s imaging technology has caused a disruption in the global procurement of military electro-optics systems.

Tonbo’s growth has been driven by increased demand from emerging markets that are looking to modernize their aging military equipment. In defence, the sights are mounted on tanks, drones, guns and other artillery to allow soldiers to see better at night over long ranges ­ the sophistication they need in modern battlefields. The ability to see better at night, over longer ranges and effectively engage targets, is a much needed and sought-after technology. Tonbo’s products offer these markets the sophistication they need for today’s modern battlefield.

Since its Series A funding from Artiman Ventures in 2012, Tonbo has grown its staff to over 170 highly specialized imaging, machine learning and computer vision engineers located in Bengaluru, Palo Alto, Greece, Poland and Singapore.

Tonbo’s products are deployed across 25 countries addressing needs spanning surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting across the ground, air and naval applications. It counts among its customers, global military forces, Tier I defense and homeland security agencies.

This Series B round is the largest private venture investment in the Indian defense industry, and one of Silicon Valley’s largest investments in defense technologies.