How NxtQube Is Building India’s Drone Docking Future

In the fast-moving realm of industrial automation and aerial surveillance, one Indian startup is quietly pioneering a breakthrough that could redefine how drones operate at scale. Nashik-based NxtQube is at the forefront of building autonomous, drone-agnostic infrastructure, enabling unmanned operations across mining, logistics, warehousing, and defence with precision and reliability.

From Formula Cars to Flying Drones: The Birth of NxtQube

College friends Nilesh Palkar and Nikhil Rajput began their journey building Formula-style racing cars. That hands-on engineering spirit laid the foundation for NxtQube, launched in 2022 to create autonomous drone docking infrastructure. With roots in air taxi systems and switchgear R&D, the duo is now building India’s deep tech frontier.

Solving the Drone Autonomy Problem

Despite rapid drone adoption, most missions still require on-ground human intervention for piloting, battery swaps, and data handling. NxtQube is tackling the question: Who flies the drone when no one’s around?

Their answer is an integrated solution of autonomous drone docks and virtual piloting software.

These rugged, industrial-grade docking stations allow drones to launch, land, charge, and transmit data, all without human presence. NxtQube’s universal platform works with multiple drone brands, addressing a key industry pain point: interoperability.

Making Drone Operations Truly Unmanned

NxtQube’s autonomous infrastructure is engineered to handle everything from routine surveillance to urgent inspections. Features include:

• Universal docking compatible with various drone models
• Remote operations via Virtual Pilot software
• Real-time analytics and mission planning
• 24/7 flight ops support and remote maintenance

This approach makes drone deployments more scalable, cost-effective, and operationally reliable, especially in industries like warehousing, mining, logistics, and solar.

Built for Scale: Tech, Team, and Market Readiness

Nikhil serves as CEO, overseeing sales, finance, and tech strategy, while Nilesh leads as CTO, steering product and systems architecture. Their multidisciplinary team spans robotics, full-stack software, and UAV integration, designed to solve complex infrastructure problems at scale.

Their customer base includes asset-heavy industries and defence stakeholders. The global drone services market, projected to exceed $60 billion by 2030, provides ample runway for expansion. Their revenue model combines hardware sales with subscription-based services like analytics, mission planning, and flight ops.

Traction, Funding, and What Lies Ahead

In just over a year, NxtQube has achieved 99.5% mission reliability in pilots across warehouses, solar farms, and mines. Key investors include Artpark IISC Bangalore, Venture Catalysts, and Pontaq VC. Funds have powered product development, commercial pilots, and market entry in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Now raising a Seed round, the team plans to scale deployments to over 70 sites across India, launch a next-gen dock with battery swapping, and expand into logistics and international markets.

Competing Globally, Delivering Locally

While global competitors like DJI and Skydio dominate headlines, NxtQube offers a differentiated value proposition:

• Drone-agnostic interoperability
• Modular and scalable docks
• Mission-ready SaaS platform
• Competitive pricing with robust support

Their biggest challenges include navigating India’s supply chains and educating traditional industries. Yet their lean, iterative, and reliability-first mindset has allowed them to consistently deliver.

A Broader Impact and Vision

Beyond efficiency, NxtQube’s autonomous solutions cut emissions by reducing diesel-based patrols and enabling smarter monitoring of large infrastructure. Their technology also supports disaster response and critical area surveillance.

Recognitions include wins at the Altair Startup Challenge, the Maharashtra Startup Week, and the Defence Innovation Challenge.