Deepinder Goyal had stepped aside as Eternal CEO to focus on his futuristic bets, and it seems that they’re taking shape.
LAT Aerospace, the Indian aerospace startup backed by the Zomato co-founder, has acquired Sharang Shakti, an early-stage defence robotics company based in Gurugram — marking its first foray into indigenous defence capabilities.
Announcing the acquisition on social media, Goyal framed the move as a natural extension of LAT’s long-term mission. “This is our first move toward building indigenous defence capabilities alongside our long-term mission of developing next-generation civil aviation platforms from India. Civil aviation and defence are often viewed as separate sectors,” he wrote. “But the core technology stack is shared across autonomy, perception, sensing, navigation, guidance, and control systems.” The acquisition, he said, is about building these capabilities from first principles, with intent to deploy them across both defence and civil programs over time.
About Sharang Shakti
Founded in 2023 by a team with roots in technical clubs at IIT Delhi — Karan Goyal, Chirag Singla, Jitendra Singh, Gaurav Kumar, and Rishabh Choudhary — Sharang Shakti specialises in airspace surveillance and airborne threat mitigation. Its flagship product is an anti-drone system capable of detecting, tracking, and neutralising hostile UAVs, using radar systems paired with net-launching or kinetic-hit interception mechanisms.
The startup raised Rs 5 crore in pre-seed funding in September 2024, co-led by AUM Ventures and Venture Highway, with participation from JK Group’s Family Office, Appreciate Capital, and a clutch of angels. The founders have been vocal about their ambition to become India’s answer to Lockheed Martin, operating under the mantra “From India, For Global.”
LAT Aerospace: The Bigger Picture
LAT Aerospace was founded in January 2025 by Surobhi Das, former COO at Zomato, with Goyal as a key backer. The company is building 24-seater STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) aircraft designed to connect India’s underserved Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities using minimal ground infrastructure — think compact air-stops in parking lots rather than full-scale airports.
Less than a year into its existence, LAT raised ₹130.6 crore ($15.6 million) in seed funding in April 2025 from Dharana Capital and Goyal himself, at a post-money valuation of ₹821.1 crore. The company operates out of New Delhi and runs a propulsion R&D lab in Bengaluru, where it is developing lightweight indigenous gas turbine engines for both STOL aircraft and UAVs.
Why the Acquisition Could Make Strategic Sense
The Sharang Shakti deal signals that LAT is not content with being just a regional aviation player. By bringing defence robotics in-house, the company is positioning itself to build a unified technology stack that spans civil and military applications — an approach that mirrors how some of the world’s most consequential aerospace companies, from Boeing to Israel Aerospace Industries, have historically operated.
For India, where indigenisation of defence technology has become a policy priority under the Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives, a well-capitalised private player building from first principles in robotics, UAV systems, and propulsion could prove significant. LAT is still pre-revenue and awaiting DGCA licensing, but the acquisition suggests the company is thinking well beyond its initial aviation mandate.
Goyal, who has been away from the limelight since stepping back from Eternal’s day-to-day operations, summed up the strategy simply: “Slowly but surely.”