uAvionix acquires Iris Automation, reinforcing drone integration tech

Drone and general aviation communications, navigation, and surveillance company uAvionix has moved to expand and enhance its range of awareness solutions by acquiring onboard and ground-based aircraft detect and avoid startup Iris Automation.

Montana-based uAvionix announced the move to combine its avionics offer with the tech assets that has made Iris a leader in drone and aircraft detection and avoidance capabilities. Though an amount of the transaction wasn’t specified in the communiqué, other details of the deal signal some big changes for both companies – and possibly the wider, still rather formative UAV sector.

For starters, Iris CEO Jon Damush will assumer the leadership role of the expanded uAvionix Corporation. In that post, he’ll oversee the integration of the acquired company’s Casio airborne and ground-based optical systems into the broadened automated navigation and awareness offer uAvionix will now market.

In announcing the Iris purchase, uAvionix described the pairing as fortifying its position as sector leader by providing even safer and more efficient integration of drones into airspaces also used by legacy aircraft through Iris asset availability.

The stronger, unified capabilities of that combination, it added, will permit the two companies to play a leading role in what was termed a “new era of safety and efficiency for everything that flies” – particularly uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS).

“The combination of Iris Automation’s and uAvionix’s capabilities provides for a multi-layered-safety architecture that supports integration of UAS into the National Airspace System,” said Paul Beard, chief technology officer of uAvionix. “Through our collective efforts, we are solving the two biggest technical challenges to UAS integration: command and control and detect and avoid.  Solving these problems builds safer airspace for all users.”

Other aspects of Iris’s acquisition suggest another sort of era may also be opening for the still nascent drone and next generation aircraft sector: increasing involvement of finance sector actors. 

While the majority of drone and advanced air mobility startups still remain the property of founders, carefully recruited backers, or stock market investors, that ownership makeup may be starting to change. In March 2022, uAvionix itself became the property of private equity firm DC Capital Partners, which by extension now also takes control of Iris. Others may follow suit as the emerging sector proves its value.

While the arrival of private equity firms in particularly habitually signals a purely profit-focused – and not infrequently ruthless – manner of overseeing acquired companies, the promotion of Iris founder and CEO Damush to the head of uAvionix indicates a degree of continuity in personnel and strategy – at least for the medium-term.

“Jon Damush’s appointment as CEO hits all the right marks for uAvionix,” said David Page, partner at DC Capital. “His exceptional background and vision complement an already strong leadership team at uAvionix and aligns perfectly with the uAvionix mission to lead the way in advancing aviation safety and efficiency. The addition of Iris’ optical capabilities with existing uAvionix solutions further cements our market position.”