A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally
RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – DRONES
- 3D Robotics, a Berkeley-based full-stack drone solution provider, raised $53M in a Series D funding round led by Atlantic Bridge Capital with participation from True Ventures, Foundry Group, Mayfield Fund, Autodesk Forge Fund and other undisclosed investors. Link
- Drone Racing League, an NYC-based developer of racing drones and organizer of professional drone racing competitions, raised $13M in a Series B round from undisclosed investors. Link
- Shield AI, a San Diego-based developer of drone autonomy systems, raised a $10.5M Series A round from Andreessen Horowitz. Link
- Fortem Technologies, a Provo-based developer of on-board radar systems for UAVs, raised a $5.5M Series A round led by Signia Venture Partners and Data Collective. Link
- WiBotic, a Seattle-based developer of wireless charging solutions for drones and other robots, raised a $2.5M seed round from Tsing Capital, Comet Labs, The W Fund, Digi Labs, Wisemont Capital and WRF Capital. Link
- vHive, a Jerusalem-based developer of drone fleet management software, raised a $2M Series A from StageOne Ventures and other private investors. Link
- Sangair-Tech, a Zhuhai-based developer of drones and drone accessories, raised a $1.5M Series A round from Right Run. Link
- Amazon Prime Air made a landmark first delivery in the US as part of a demonstration in California. Link
SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND
Cleandrone (2015, Valldoreix) – Develops autonomous drones for cleaning solar panels.
LEADER BOARD – DRONES
Hardware – Civilian – Drone Platform
DJI (2006, Shenzhen, $605M) – Manufactures commercial and recreational drones for aerial photography and videography. Backed by GIC, New China Life Insurance, New Horizon Capital, Accel & Sequoia.
3D Robotics (2009, Berkeley, $152M) – Provides an integrated drone hardware and data analysis and management solution for commercial applications. Backed by OATV, Mayfield, Atlantic Bridge Capital, Qualcomm Ventures and others.
Ehang (2014, Guangzhou, $52M) – Developer of Ghost Drones series of smartphone controlled consumer drones. Backed by GGV Capital, PreAngel & ZhenFund.
Airobotics (2014, Tel Aviv, $28.5M) – Designs and builds a drone-based industrial inspection system. Backed by Blue Run Ventures, Charles River Ventures and others.
Hardware – Civilian – Pure Play Hardware
Parrot (1994, Paris, IPO) – Designs & develops UAVs connected with smartphone/tablet, and AR/VR headsets. Went public in 2006.
Yuneec (1999, Shanghai, $60M) – Manufactures consumer drones for aerial photography and videography. Backed by Intel Capital.
FlyPro (2012, Shenzhen, $36M) – Manufactures a smartwatch-controlled auto-follow drone. Backed by Yi Hua Group and Shenzhen Capital Group.
Zero Zero Robotics (2014, Beijing, $25M) – Builds a hovering photography drone. Backed by GSR Ventures, Zhenfund and IDG VC.
Hardware – Military
AeroVironment (1971, Simi Valley, IPO) – Designs, develops and manufactures military & defense UAVs. Went public in 2007.
Aeryon Labs (2007, Waterloo, $47M) – Manufactures small UAVs & mission control software. Backed by Summit Partners.
CyPhy Works (2008, Danvers, $32M) – Developed a technology platform of easy-to-operate flying robots for applications in the military, civil and commercial sectors. Backed by Bessemer Venture Partners & Lux Capital.
INSITU (1994, White Salmon, $21M, Acq.) – Manufactures customized unmanned systems and develops information processing software solutions. Acquired by Boeing in July 2008.
Hardware – Hardware Parts & Peripherals
Swift Navigation (2012, SF, $14M) – Provides low cost, open source real time kinematics GPS receivers. Backed by NEA, Qualcomm, First Round, Felicis, Promus Ventures, Fall Line & Lemnos Labs.
uAvionix (2014, Palo Alto, $5M) – Develops ADS-B solutions for unmanned and manned aerial vehicles. Backed by Playground Global.
Software – Enabling Software
Neurala (2006, Cambridge, $16M) – Develops software solutions for drone and robot autonomy. Backed by Pelion Ventures, Draper Associates Investments, Sherpa Capital, Motorola Solutions and others.
Skydio (2014, SF, $3M) – Develops & provides autopilots for drones enabling them navigate intelligently. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz & Accel Partners.
DreamHammer (2012, LA, $2.9M) – Develops a drone operation system that links multiple drones into an integrated systems.
Software – Ancillary Software
Airmap (2014, Santa Monica, $44M) – Builds mapping software for drone collision avoidance and airspace information. Backed by Microsoft Ventures, Airbus Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Sony, General Catalyst Partners, Lux Capital, Bullpen Capital and others.
DroneDeploy (2013, SF, $31M) – Provides a smart multiple drone and drone data management platform. Backed by Scale Venture Partners, High Alpha, SoftTech VC, Emergence Capital Partners and others.
Skyward (2012, Portland, $6M, Acq.) – Provides fleet management solution for planning and logging multiple UAV flights. Acquired by Verizon in February 2017.
Services – Industrial Inspections & Monitoring
Sky-Futures (2009, Hayes, $10M) – Provides drone based inspection services to oil and gas industries. Backed by Bristow Group, MMC Ventures and Commercial Drone Fund.
Cyberhawk (2008, Livingston, $4.8M) – Provides aerial surveying and inspection services, chiefly to oil and gas installation, using third-party drones. Backed by Clydesdale Bank and Scottish Equity Partners.
Services – Delivery
Zipline (2014, SF, $43M) – Provides drone delivery services, focusing on medical supplies, to remote areas, using a proprietary fixed-wing drone. Backed by Vissionaire Ventures, Sequoia Capital, GV, SV Angel, Paul Allen, Jerry Yang and others.
Matternet (2011, Menlo Park, $12.5M) – Develops drones for last-mile deliveries of medicines, vaccines and light consumer goods. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz and QueensBridge Venture Partners.
Services – Horizontal
Airware (2011, SF, $70M) – Provides operating system and application development core for development & operation of drones. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz, KPCB, First Round, Google Ventures, Shastra Ventures, RRE, Promus Ventures & Firelake.
Skycatch (2013, SF, $46M) – Provides autonomous drone platform, software solution and services for capturing & analyzing aerial data. Backed by Walden Riverwood Ventures, Sherpalo Ventures, Avalon Ventures, Google Ventures and others.
PrecisionHawk (2011, Indianapolis, $30M) – Provides drone-based aerial imaging services for multiple applications. Backed by Verizon Ventures, Intel Capital, NTT Docomo Ventures and others.
Measure (2015, Washington DC, $20M) – Provides drones as a service for multiple applications in a variety of industries. Backed by Cognizant and Hudson Bay Capital Management.
Counter-Drone Systems
DroneShield (2014, Herndon, IPO) – Develops a drone-detection system based on acoustic signature. Went public in 2016.
Dedrone (2014, Kassel, $28M) – Designs and builds drone early-warning detection and disabling systems. Backed by Felicis Ventures, Menlo Ventures and others.
Leader board includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.
For latest update, visit Drones feed.