Tonbo Imaging India, a Bengaluru-based designer and manufacturer of defence electronics, has received the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) approval for its initial public offering, clearing a path to the stock market after a revised filing earlier this year. The approval was disclosed on 28 September 2026, with SEBI issuing its observations on the company's draft papers on 21 September.
The IPO will be structured entirely as an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 18,085,246 equity shares with a face value of ₹2 each. There is no fresh issue component, which means Tonbo will not receive any money from the listing. All proceeds will go to the selling shareholders.
Who is selling
The selling shareholders include the company's three co-founders and promoters, Arvind Kondangi Lakshmikumar, Ankit Kumar and Cecilia D'Souza, as well as a promoter group shareholder and existing investors.
Tonbo's investor base is a mix of global technology, domestic financial and strategic backers. It includes Qualcomm Ventures, Artiman, Celesta, Edelweiss Value and Growth Fund, HBL Engineering, Tenacity Ventures, the Export-Import Bank of India and Florintree.
An offer for sale is a common route for companies that are already profitable and do not need fresh capital, allowing early investors and founders to realise part of their holdings while giving the company a public valuation and a liquid currency for future transactions.
A winding path to approval
Tonbo's route to listing has taken nearly a year. It first filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) in December 2025 and received SEBI approval in July 2026. According to Inc42, the company then refiled its draft papers in August, and the regulator issued fresh observations in September.
Companies typically refile when there are material changes to the offer structure, financial disclosures or shareholding that require updated documentation. The refiling reset parts of the review, but the fresh approval indicates that the regulator is satisfied with the revised disclosures.
The same week, SEBI cleared IPO applications from railway components maker Pioneer Fil-Med, which is planning a ₹500 crore issue split equally between fresh shares and an offer for sale, and from Functional and Innovative Foods, an integrated maker of ready-to-eat products, staples and spices.
What Tonbo makes
Founded in 2003, Tonbo turned its focus to defence manufacturing in 2012 following a promoter buyout. It designs and produces sensing, processing, communication and guidance systems. Its product portfolio includes thermal imaging cores, weapon sights, thermal binoculars, targeting systems, missile seekers, and fire-control and missile-guidance systems.
Thermal imaging allows soldiers and systems to detect people, vehicles and equipment by their heat signatures, even in darkness, smoke or fog. It is a core technology for night-fighting capability, border surveillance and precision-guided munitions, and demand for it has grown with the modernisation of armed forces worldwide.
A dominant exporter
Tonbo's market position is unusually strong for an Indian defence electronics company. According to its offer documents, it was the largest manufacturer by sales value of thermal imaging systems supplied to Indian government and defence agencies between FY24 and FY26. It also accounted for 94.3 per cent of India's thermal imaging exports by units during that period.
As of 31 March 2026, more than 28,000 of its systems had been deployed across 24 countries. The company says it has owned 100 per cent of the intellectual property behind its products since FY24, covering optics, embedded software and electronics.
That ownership of intellectual property matters in defence. Governments increasingly prefer suppliers that control their own designs, because it reduces dependence on foreign licences that can be withdrawn or restricted, and it allows products to be modified quickly for specific operational needs.
Financial picture
The IPO arrives after a softer year for the company. Inc42 reported that Tonbo's operating revenue declined about 23 per cent in FY26, to ₹299.9 crore from ₹374.3 crore in FY25, and that its net profit also fell by around 30 per cent year on year.
Revenue in defence businesses is typically lumpy, because it depends on the timing of large government contracts, export approvals and deliveries. A single delayed order can shift revenue from one financial year to the next. Investors will want to see the company's order book and its pipeline of domestic and export contracts in the final offer documents to judge whether FY26 was a temporary dip or the start of a trend.
Riding India's defence manufacturing push
Tonbo is seeking to list at a time of strong investor interest in Indian defence stocks. The government has spent several years prioritising domestic procurement through the "Make in India" and self-reliance agenda, including lists of defence items that must be sourced domestically. It has also set ambitious targets for defence exports.
Listed defence companies, from state-owned manufacturers to private electronics and component makers, have been among the best-performing segments of the Indian market in recent years. That performance has encouraged private defence technology companies to consider public listings, and investors have shown willingness to pay high valuation multiples for businesses with strong order books.
Tonbo's export strength sets it apart. Many Indian defence companies depend almost entirely on domestic government orders. A company that already sells across 24 countries has diversified demand and a track record that can support further growth abroad, provided export approvals and geopolitical conditions remain favourable.
The risks
Defence businesses carry particular risks for public investors. Customer concentration is high, with governments and armed forces accounting for most revenue. Export sales depend on government clearances and can be affected by diplomatic relations. Technology cycles are also changing quickly, and competitors in Israel, Europe, the United States and elsewhere invest heavily in next-generation sensing.
Because the IPO is entirely an offer for sale, investors will also scrutinise the prices at which existing shareholders are exiting and how much of their holdings they retain after listing. A large sell-down by founders can make investors cautious, while continued significant ownership can reassure them.
What comes next
With SEBI's approval in hand, Tonbo must file its red herring prospectus with price band details before launching the issue. The timing will depend on market conditions, which have been volatile in recent weeks as foreign investors have sold Indian equities and bond yields have risen globally.
If the listing goes ahead, it would give public investors a rare chance to own a specialised Indian defence electronics company with global reach, and it would provide a new benchmark for private deep-tech firms in the sector considering their own paths to the market.
