Drone tech firm ideaForge Technology Ltd on Tuesday announced inking an initial pact with Japanese AI-tech company Digital Media Professionals Inc. (DMP) to develop next-generation Di1-powered AI drones.

The collaboration will also help the company gain access to the Japanese market, it said.

The partnership is focused on two key areas: ideaForge will provide the Di1 integration to its unmanned aerial vehicle platforms to enable new features, and DMP will be the Go To Market (GTM) partner for ideaForge's drone solutions portfolio in Japan, enabling demonstrations, customer outreach, distribution, training, and after sales support, the company said.

The global drone market is expected to reach $127.6 billion by 2030 from $54.9 billion in 2024, Japan's market is slated to grow from $2 billion in 2025 to $5.1 billion by 2034.

To enable this growth , ideaForge said Edge AI is critical for drone-based autonomous solutions in defence, security and industrial applications.

The DMP's Di1 AI technology works in tandem with ideaForge's rugged, secure, autonomous, and resilient field-proven VTOL drones to perform robust autonomous flight in severe environments and complex terrains, it said.

ideaForge's vision is to build next-generation intelligent unmanned aircraft systems by seamlessly integrating advanced design, engineering, manufacturing capabilities, and AI technologies, said Ankit Mehta, CEO and Co-founder, ideaForge Technology Ltd.

Through this collaboration, ideaForge would be able to leverage DMP's strong presence and understanding of the Japanese market to accelerate the company's global expansion initiatives and will provide smarter, more efficient, and sustainable autonomous drone systems that deliver real-time decision-making, extended endurance, and unmatched reliability in the most demanding environments, he added.

ideaForge already has an established presence in the US through its joint venture, First Forge Technology, focused on manufacturing and distribution in the region.

"This memorandum of understanding accelerates Di1's accelerated deployment while enabling DMP to bring ideaForge's rugged, high-endurance, and resilient drones to Japan's defence, security, and industrial markets" said Tatsuo Yamamoto, Chairman, President & CEO, Digital Media Professionals Inc.

Published on April 28, 2026