DroneAcharya: The IPO Dream That Turned Into a Mirage

DroneAcharya, The IPO dream that turned into a mirage, it looked like the perfect success story: a hot drone startup, celebrity investors, and a blockbuster IPO that listed with a 90% gain. But behind the hype, SEBI found one of the most troubling stories to hit the SME market in years.

1. The Celebrity Glow That Hid the Cracks

Aamir Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, and nearly 200 pre-IPO investors were showcased as early believers. For a company with barely ₹3.5 crore in revenue, this looked miraculous.

But celebrities don’t do forensic checks. They follow advisors, not numbers. The celebrity cap table created awe, then suspicion.

2. The Money That Quietly Left the Company

SEBI found that DroneAcharya transferred ₹10.6 crore to Awyam Synergies (ASPL), a company fully owned by the promoters, even after they resigned.

The payment was labelled software development. But no real software existed.

Worse, some of the money quietly came back in classic round-tripping. None of this was disclosed in the IPO documents or annual reports.

3. The Revenues That Never Existed

Two "customers", Triconix and IRed, accounted for 35% of FY24 revenue.SEBI found:

• No real services

• No deliverables

• No confirmation

• No commercial activity

Once SEBI removed this fake revenue, DroneAcharya went from "profit" to an actual loss of nearly ₹4 crore.

4. The Announcements That Misled Investors

DroneAcharya kept releasing vague updates about "potential orders" and "possible contracts".Nothing concrete. But every announcement pumped sentiment and the stock.

Retail investors kept buying the dream while the foundation was hollowing out.

5. The Final Blow

Here’s the shocking number:

Only ₹1.64 crore out of the ₹66.31 crore raised was used for the actual drone business. Just 2.5%.

Meanwhile:

• 168 early investors sold 74 lakh shares

• Profits: ₹114+ crore

• Returns: 225% to 5,800%

Retail investors? They were left holding losses of 30% to 60%.

The Lesson

DroneAcharya isn’t just a case of misreporting. It’s a reminder.

In markets, hype is loud. But numbers never lie.

A glossy prospectus, celebrity investors, and trending announcements can distract you, but they cannot protect you when the truth arrives.

Because once trust breaks, no amount of drones, dreams, or momentum can keep a stock in the air.

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