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Most of us have seen a drone at a wedding or watched aerial footage online. But how many of us have actually built one? Tushar Sharma believes that the gap between consumption and creation is holding back an entire generation of engineers. His startup, Axxentraa, aims to change that with modular drone kits that not only fly, but also teach.
The idea started with a simple frustration. After graduating from VIT Vellore and working on Airbus projects, Tushar noticed something odd: the educational drone kits available in India used brushed motors, components no professional engineer would touch. “As an engineer, we never use brushed motors in drones because of some of the limitations,” he explains. The kits felt like toys dressed up as learning tools, rather than genuine engineering experiences.
So in late 2024, Tushar Sharma and his co-founder, Yash Thummar (currently studying aerospace at TU Munich, Germany), decided to build what they wished had existed when they were students.
What is Axxentraa building?
Axxentraa’s approach splits into two product lines. The first is a nano drone kit, under 250 grams, which means no license is required under DGCA regulations. This isn’t just a plug-and-play product. You solder circuits. You calibrate motors. You program flight controllers. You troubleshoot failures.
If you are buying a kit, you will actually assemble the drone, you will solder, do the electronics, calibrate, program, and then fly.
But the real innovation comes after you’ve flown it ten times and gotten bored. That’s when the modular add-ons enter the picture. Think of it like Lego, except instead of building castles, you’re adding capabilities:
- Pick-and-drop mechanism: Turn your drone into a miniature delivery system
- Surveillance module: Attach an infrared night vision camera with gimbal control
- Precision farming sprayer: Learn how drones are revolutionising agriculture
- Non-lethal shooting mechanism: Load paintballs or darts for drone-based sports
Each add-on teaches a different real-world application. You’re not just flying a hobby drone, you’re exploring logistics, surveillance tech, agritech, and even competitive gaming.
The ecosystem extends beyond hardware. Buyers get access to an app with an AI chatbot that can diagnose assembly mistakes from photos, video tutorials, and a community of like-minded builders. If your idea for a drone modification is genuinely innovative, Axxentraa will bring you to their office, work on it with you, and patent it in your name.
Why this matters beyond hobbyists
Here’s where Tushar’s engineering background shapes his vision. Right now, aerospace graduates in India spend their early college years learning fundamentals. Then they reach advanced concepts like BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) drones, technology that could enable urgent medical deliveries at 3 AM when helicopters are too slow and visibility is zero.
But what if students arrived at college already knowing drone basics? “If a student of 13-14 years already knows about a drone… he can directly work from the second year on BVLOS and other concepts,” Tushar argues. The technology advancement would accelerate dramatically.
This isn’t just theory. Axxentraa is already in talks with the Madhya Pradesh government about setting up drone labs in government schools. They’re signing MOUs with colleges to run pilot programs. The business model splits geographically: B2B and B2G (business-to-government) in India, B2C (business-to-consumer) globally.
Why global? “In India, if a child tells parents to buy a ₹15,000-20,000 kit, parents will say buy a ₹5,000 course for CSE instead,” Tushar admits. But in the US, where average monthly salaries run $3,500-4,500, a $400 kit is an easy purchase for parents who want their kids learning through building, not just screens.
The second vertical: flight controllers made in India
Axxentraa’s ambitions extend beyond kits. They’re developing flight controllers, the “brain” of a drone, entirely from scratch in India. Most companies claiming to make indigenous controllers are actually using open-source firmware with custom hardware shells. Axxentraa is coding the firmware itself.
This matters for two reasons. First, true customisation: if the Indian military needs specific features, Axxentraa can modify the core code. Second, sovereignty: “India can only grow in drones if it has its own firmware in flight controllers,” Tushar insists.
The technical challenge is real. Flight controllers manage PID stabilisation (proportional-integral-derivative), the calculations that keep drones from tilting, spinning, or crashing when wind hits. Getting those values right requires extensive trial and error, which means crashes, broken parts, and serious R&D costs.
The roadmap ahead
Axxentraa completed pre-product development but faces the classic hardware startup challenge: funding. Setting up a full manufacturing unit would cost around $1 million and could slash kit prices from ₹20,000 to ₹9,000-15,000. For now, they’re outsourcing from Indian vendors and planning to launch in Q2 2026, or December 2025 if funding comes through.
They’re exploring Kickstarter campaigns (via a virtual US headquarters to bypass RBI restrictions on foreign funds) and are open to debt financing at 12-18% interest. Tushar believes pre-orders alone could cover repayment within 18 months.
The next six months focus on refining the pitch, hiring engineers for offices in Indore or Udaipur, building prototypes, and running certification tests. For every 25 kits sold, they’ll donate one to an underprivileged child, a commitment to making this technology accessible beyond those who can afford it.
Axxentraa is currently seeking pre-seed funding and pilot partners. If you’re an investor interested in hardware-enabled edtech or an institution looking to set up drone labs, now’s the time to reach out.
Read more about them here:
Axxentraa is featured in The First Brick series. The series highlights promising early-stage companies.
What are your thoughts on Axxentraa by Tushar and Yash? Tell us in the comments below.
Did you read our last article on Petzify, a pet care startup by Abhijith and Anshif? Read it here.
