Who founded Kalam Labs?

Kalam Labs was founded by Ahmad Faraaz, Sashakt Tripathi, Harshit Awasthi in 2021.

Who are Kalam Labs's investors?

Kalam Labs's investors include 2am VC, First Cheque, Lightspeed India Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Y Combinator, Pioneer.

Where is Kalam Labs headquartered?

Kalam Labs is headquartered in India, IN.

Kalam Labs

YC S21

India, IN · Founded 2021 · 10 employees · Hiring · 7 known investors

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Kalam Labs designs and manufactures high-altitude hydrogen-based unmanned aerial vehicles and stratospheric platforms for military and defense applications, including surveillance systems, autonomous weather platforms, and stealth strike swarms capable of operating at 100,000+ feet. The company serves the Indian armed forces with edge-of-space aerial warfare technology developed and manufactured in India.

Also known as Elixar Systems, Inc. · AskPenny · Kalam Labs, Kiddernet (prev. Kalam Labs), AskPenny, Kiddernet (prev Kalam Labs), AskPenny · Kiddernet (prev Kalam Labs) · Kiddernet (prev. Kalam Labs)

Advanced Manufacturing AI & Machine Learning Deep Tech Defense Tech Hardware Robotics Space Tech Artificial Intelligence Hard Tech Drones AerospaceIndiaSouth Asia

Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (S21)

Kalam Labs was founded in 2021 by Ahmad Faraaz, Sashakt Tripathi, and Harshit Awasthi.

Ahmad Faraaz FounderAhmad Faraaz is the founder of Kalam Labs, which designs and manufactures high-altitude hydrogen-based unmanned aerial vehicles and stratospheric platforms for defense and surveillance applications.

Sashakt Tripathi Co-FounderFounder of Kalam Labs, which develops and manufactures hydrogen-powered unmanned aerial vehicles and high-altitude platforms for defense and surveillance applications.

Harshit AwasthiCo-Founder

Faraaz AliFounder

Harshit BhardwajFounder

Deepak SuyalGame Development Head

Samar MohsinChief Hiring Manager

Faraaz

Ahmad Faraaz Founder

Ronit MukherjeeHiring Managerformer

Investors · 7

2am VClisted by 2am VCBengaluru

How we know: 2am VC's portfolio page · Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us

First Chequelisted by First ChequeMumbai · $500K

How we know: First Cheque's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us

Lightspeed India Partnerslisted by Lightspeed India PartnersBengaluru

How we know: Lightspeed India Partners's portfolio page · Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us

Lightspeed Venture Partnerslisted by Lightspeed Venture PartnersMenlo Park · $1M – $5M

How we know: Lightspeed Venture Partners's portfolio page · yourstory.com · Not right? Tell us

Y Combinatorlisted by Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K

How we know: the Y Combinator directory · funding news · yourstory.com · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us

PioneerreportedToronto, Ontario

How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us

Also in the syndicate · 1

FirstCheque

Funding

SEC filings, press & company announcements

Undisclosed amountpre-seedAug 2021
FirstCheque, Lightspeed, Y Combinator
Source ↗

Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.

Related companies · 5

Degla IncDegla provides a natural language platform for coordinating autonomous drone fleets for search and rescue, emergency response, infrastructure inspection, and critical field operations. The system automatically plans missions, assigns aircraft, and adapts to real-time conditions without requiring flight plans or specialist training.

OrnadyneOrnadyne makes flapping-wing unmanned aircraft designed to resemble birds for covert reconnaissance missions. The company addresses limitations of conventional drones by engineering systems optimized for stealth, endurance, and autonomous operation in field environments.

ElodinElodin provides a cloud-based simulation platform for building autonomous systems, targeting developers and engineers creating satellites, drones, and robots. The company aims to make advanced autonomy tooling accessible and affordable to innovators in aerospace and robotics.

Vernius Systems, Inc.Vernius makes drop-in hardware modules that add autonomous or operator-assisted targeting to existing FPV interceptor drones. The module sits between the drone's receiver and flight controller to provide beyond-visual-range sensing, autonomous guidance, or target bearing data for manual pilots, aimed at low-cost, high-volume defense deployment.

VelontraVelontra develops jet propulsion systems across the Mach spectrum, focusing on low-cost, high-volume manufacturing through vertically integrated design and rapid development cycles.

Companies working in the same space as Kalam Labs.

Legal entities · 1

corporate structure

Elixar Systems, Inc.

In the news

Kalam Labs takes a defencetech pivot to the stratosphereyourstory.com · Nov 2025

Frequently asked questions

What does Kalam Labs do?: Kalam Labs designs and manufactures high-altitude hydrogen-based unmanned aerial vehicles and stratospheric platforms for military and defense applications, including surveillance systems, autonomous weather platforms, and stealth strike swarms capable of operating at 100,000+ feet. The company serves the Indian armed forces with edge-of-space aerial warfare technology developed and manufactured in India.
Who founded Kalam Labs?: Kalam Labs was founded by Ahmad Faraaz, Sashakt Tripathi, Harshit Awasthi in 2021.
Who are Kalam Labs's investors?: Kalam Labs's investors include 2am VC, First Cheque, Lightspeed India Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Y Combinator, Pioneer.
Where is Kalam Labs headquartered?: Kalam Labs is headquartered in India, IN.