KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, March 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Aonic, a Malaysia-founded drone technology company operating across Southeast Asia, today announced that it has secured USD 10 million in new funding. The Series A funding round is led by Kairous Capital, a regional private equity and venture capital firm backed by Jelawang Capital, Malaysia's National Fund-of-Funds through its Emerging Fund Managers' Programme. The investment will accelerate Aonic's regional and international expansion, deepen R&D, and scale its Malaysia-built drones, software, and services.
"Aonic is scaling a proven system," said Cheong Jin Xi, Founder and CEO of Aonic. "We've spent years building the engineering, manufacturing, and operational foundations to support real-world, field-ready operations. This funding enables us to expand globally with the same level of consistency and reliability we've achieved in Southeast Asia."
Aonic provides end-to-end drone solutions to modernise the agriculture and industrial sectors in Southeast Asia by addressing persistent traditional challenges: labour-intensive and hazardous work. By replacing manual spraying, Aonic helps farmers increase efficiency and yields. Based on internal performance data across participating farms, Aonic's agriculture drones have been shown to increase farmers' income by 50%, boost farm output by around 54%, and reduce water use for spraying by approximately 75% compared with manual methods.
To support this at scale, Aonic has built a fully integrated in-house ecosystem. It designs, engineers, and manufactures its own drones and proprietary software in-house, enabling the company to have full control over product performance, costs, and roadmap. Beyond technology, Aonic's broader ecosystem also supports farmers through training, agri-drone financing, and agri-input retail, which aims to lower adoption barriers and deliver scalable and sustainable impact across agriculture and industrial operations.
With its strong after-sales service network of more than 50 3S (Sales, Service, Spare Parts) centres across Southeast Asia, Aonic provides responsive, on-the-ground support long after deployment. As one of the market leaders in the agri-drone segment in both Malaysia and Thailand, Aonic's drones are widely adopted by local farmers for spraying operations in plantations and farms.
"We have been searching for transformative food and agri-technology for a long time, and Aonic is a rare Malaysia-based company that can deliver across Southeast Asia at scale," said Adrian Hia, Partner at Kairous Capital. "The team pairs deep technical capability with exceptional execution and financial discipline, bringing measurable outcomes for farmers."
Aonic has grown at a triple-digit CAGR since 2022, reaching more than USD 60 million in annual revenue. In addition, the company has been profitable since 2023, reflecting its disciplined execution and a scalable operating model.
Expanding Through Global Resellers and Distributors
Today, Aonic's drones are sold and deployed in over 15 countries, with applications across agriculture, plantation management, inspection, and industrial services.
"Through this investment, Aonic will further strengthen its ability to invest more deeply in R&D for its proprietary drone capabilities and scale its manufacturing capacity in Malaysia for the next phase of growth," said Hia.
As part of its next growth phase, Aonic is actively expanding its reseller and distributor network to bring its Malaysia-built drone ecosystem to global markets.
Driving Nation-Building and Smallholder Transformation
Alongside global expansion, Aonic continues to play a key role in modernising Malaysia's agriculture sector. Through Aonic Flex financing, certified training via Drone Academy Asia, and integration with agri-inputs, Aonic empowers smallholders and large estate operators alike to adopt drone technology with lower upfront barriers and measurable productivity gains.
"Kairous Capital is a strong strategic fit because they understand our long-term vision and the realities of scaling an asset-heavy platform," said Cheong. "Beyond capital, they bring later-stage growth expertise to help us scale operations and expand into global markets over the next five years."
With a strengthened capital base and a decade of groundwork since its founding in 2016, Aonic is now scaling its infrastructure and exporting Malaysian engineering excellence to help drive the next wave of agricultural and industrial transformation globally.
About Aonic
Aonic is an end-to-end drone solutions provider, leveraging smart technologies to develop ecosystems within the drone industry and beyond across Southeast Asia. Anchored by its expertise in drones, its ecosystem provides tailored solutions to the unique needs of enterprises and end users across six integrated verticals consisting of agriculture, industrial, services, retail, academy, and lifestyle.
Visit Aonic's Website: www.aonic.com
Media Enquiries: marketing@aonic.com
About Kairous Capital
Kairous Capital is a regional private equity firm specialising in cross-border investments across Greater China and Southeast Asia with a focus on investing in disruptive technologies and technology-driven companies across both regions.
Visit Kairous Capital's Website: www.kairous.com
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Malaysia's Aonic Secures USD 10 Million to Take Home-Grown Drone Technology Global
