RocketDNA secures funding to speed up xBot rollout

Placement funds RocketDNA’s next deployment phase

RocketDNA Ltd (ASX:RKT) has raised $2.23 million from investors prepared to pay slightly above the market price, giving the autonomous drone operator fresh capital to fulfil its current order pipeline and expand its software capability. The placement was priced at $0.0215 per share, a 2.4% premium to the company’s last traded price of $0.021 on 6 October and in line with its 10-day and 15-day VWAPs.

The raising comes as RocketDNA builds on a growing base of enterprise drone activity. Its previously disclosed 25,000 pre-scheduled drone missions pointed to a substantial forward workload, although the new announcement does not quantify how much of the current pipeline is contracted, nor the revenue expected from it.

103.5 million shares will expand the capital base

RocketDNA will issue 103,520,582 fully paid ordinary shares under its existing placement capacity pursuant to ASX Listing Rule 7.1A. The shares will rank equally with existing ordinary shares, and the company said no material costs or commissions were paid in connection with the transaction.

Daniel Narayan, through Sadietilly Capital, provided strong support and is expected to hold 19.5% of RocketDNA’s issued capital once the placement is completed. That participation gives the raising a clear anchor, while also leaving investors to assess the implications of a larger holding by the company’s major shareholder as the expanded share count enters the market.

Hardware, software and accreditation take priority

Management said the proceeds will fund the build-out and deployment of xBot hardware, software engineering, cyber-security accreditation and working capital. Chief executive Christopher Clark said the capital would help the company deploy xBot systems, fulfil the order pipeline and add functionality and integrations as product utilisation and customer demand increase.

The immediate test is execution rather than the size of the raise itself. RocketDNA is due to settle the placement funds on 9 October and issue the shares on 12 October, after which the resulting capital structure and progress in converting the stated pipeline into deployed systems should provide a clearer measure of what the new money is achieving.