India’s iDEX Startup wins robotics challenge at Dubai Airshow

Sagar Defence, an iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) winner, has secured the “Accelerating the Autonomous Robotics Revolution” challenge under the VISTA Track at Dubai Airshow 2025 on Tuesday, November, 18,2025, earning a USD 5,000 prize for its autonomous systems concept. iDEX congratulated the team, noting that the achievement highlights India’s growing footprint in defence innovation. Sagar Defence said its pitch centred on “Genesis”, described as a “boat-in-a-box” concept built around an AI-powered, platform-agnostic module that can be retrofitted onto existing vessels. Sanyukta Singh from the company said, “We were grateful to give a three-minute pitch to the grand jury and also been awarded for the same. As part of the startup vista challenge, we brought forward our concept of Genesis, an AI-powered solution that can make existing vessels semi-autonomous, fully autonomous or remotely operable.” Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, iDEX has emerged as a game-changer in the defence ecosystem. In a short span, it has gained momentum, fostering a growing community of start-ups in the sector. It is currently engaged with over 650 start-ups and MSMEs. The award comes as 15 iDEX-backed startups participate in the Dubai Airshow, presenting a broad range of technologies across robotics, space systems, electronic warfare, battlefield awareness and autonomous platforms. Their showcased solutions include a multi-sensor satellite integrating SAR and EO payloads, an autonomous cargo aerial vehicle, battlefield surveillance technologies, a portable SAR image disrupter designed to protect critical infrastructure, AR/VR-based training solutions, drone and anti-drone systems, and an AESA radar developed for counter-UAS operations.