Defence electronics maker Tonbo Imaging gets SEBI approval for IPO

Reports coming in for today mention that Tonbo Imaging India, a defence electronics manufacturer, has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to launch its initial public offering (IPO), in a move that will allow existing shareholders to sell up to 18.09 million equity shares. The proposed offering will be entirely an offer for sale (OFS), meaning the firm itself will not receive proceeds from the shares being sold.

The OFS will include shares held by promoter selling shareholders, a promoter group selling shareholder and investor selling shareholders. JM Financial and IIFL Capital Services are the book running lead managers for the offering.

Tonbo among key thermal imaging suppliers

Founded in 2003, Tonbo Imaging became a defence-focused product manufacturer in 2012 after its promoters acquired its erstwhile parent. The firm is promoted by Arvind Kondangi Lakshmikum­ar, Ankit Kumar and Cecilia D’Souza, who have worked together for more than two decades across defence programmes, product engineering, research and development, fundraising and international business.

According to the Frost & Sullivan report cited in the firm's draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), Tonbo was the largest manufacturer by sales value of thermal imaging systems supplied to government and defence agencies in India between FY24 and FY26.

The firm additionally accounted for 94.3 percent of India's thermal imaging exports by units during the same period, according to the report.

Tonbo had more than 28,000 systems deployed across 24 countries as of March 31, 2026. Its product portfolio includes thermal imaging cores, weapon sights, thermal binoculars, targeting systems, missile seekers, fire-control systems and missile-guidance systems.

The firm has additionally built its own intellectual property portfolio. It has owned 100 percent of its intellectual property since FY24, covering areas such as optics, embedded software and electronics. Its manufacturing partners include Kaynes Technology India and Avalon Technology.

The firm counts Qualcomm Ventures, Artiman, Celesta, Edelweiss Value and Expansion Fund, HBL Engineering, Tenacity Ventures, Export-Import Bank of India and Florintree among its market participants. The IPO will as a result provide an exit opportunity to some of the firm's existing shareholders through the OFS.