Sarla raises $10m in Series A funding

Indian eVTOL developer Sarla Aviation has raised $10m in funding from the first tranche of its Series A round.
The A1 round was led by Accel and Nikhil Kamath, with participation from angel investors including Binny Bansal and Sriharsha Majety. The capital enables Sarla to accelerate development of its eVTOL aircraft including the construction of a research and development centre. The firm is aiming for market launch by 2028.
Sarla is also set to unveil its first flying taxi prototype on Friday at Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025, in New Delhi.
“This funding is a significant milestone for Sarla Aviation as we advance our mission to revolutionise transportation in India,” said Adrian Schmidt, co-founder and CEO of Sarla Aviation. “Our flying taxis are not just about enabling instant and affordable air mobility — they represent a bold step toward unlocking India’s true economic potential and solving for critical bottlenecks to our productivity like traffic congestion and pollution.”
Schmidt also revealed Sarla’s plans to launch a free-of-cost air ambulance service, aimed at addressing the need for urgent medical response in congested urban areas. “By prioritising simplicity and affordability, we aim to create a scalable solution that meets the needs of tomorrow’s Viksit Bharat and fuels the country’s ambition to become a global superpower,” he said.
Other angel investors participating in the round include Abhiraj Singh Bhal from Urban Company, Tracxn’s Abhishek Goyal, Ramakant Sharma of LivSpace, Sujeet Kumar from Udaan, Kratos’ Manish Agarwal and Sandeep Nailwal of Polygon.
Pratik Agarwal, principal at Accel added: “Adrian, Rakesh, and Shivam are exactly the type of founders who can bring this vision to life; backed by experience from leading global eVTOL companies and a world-class team that can set new standards in engineering and innovation, they have the right mix of bold vision and ability to execute that will help this idea ‘take-off’ practically. Their emphasis on cost economics and reliability could make them a blueprint for other rapidly urbanizing regions worldwide.”