How to found a drone startup in India? For one man it began with earning pocket money.

Photo credit Ed Schipul

It was one of the perks of flying drones – a sight like that.

On one side was the silvery, limitless Brahmaputra, surging and flooding up to 20 meters – yes, the same river that flows in China as the Yarlung Zangbo. On the other was 100 acres of hills covered in dense green forests.

Jaspreet Makkar was doing property coverage for a builder in Guwahati, a city in India’s northeast, when he found himself beholding this “delightfully picturesque place.”

His startup, We Do Sky, uses drones to capture aerial intelligence that can help clients make data-driven decisions.

The drone is just a carrier, and the intelligence we generate from airborne sensors is the product.

Founded in 2014, the Delhi-based startup has completed more than 400 projects in eight months. The chunk of its revenue comes from real estate companies.

“Over the last two quarters, we’ve pivoted the company to become a data-oriented organization where the drone is just a carrier, and the intelligence we generate from airborne sensors is the product,” Jaspreet told Tech in Asia.

Its clients are giant startups in India like PropTiger and CommonFloor, as well as media company NDTV, and Neemrana Hotels (this last one I can vouch for as far as picturesque yet convenient resort locations go).

Sky’s the limit

Photo credit: stillwellmike

Be it for 3D mapping or for crop health analyses, the possibilities for a drone startup are endless as the sky. Especially when it’s run by a man passionate about his work.

“The entire process of generating intelligence from the air is beautiful,” says Jaspreet.

Once the required permissions are through, his team visits the site and does a one-time geolocation survey. Then a drone flies over the property to capture images and sensory data. Through the company’s software, this raw information is converted into intelligence for the end user.

Taking wing

Competing with Google Maps

Bootstrapped