Censys Technologies surpasses $8 million Series A target

UAV sensor specialist Censys Technologies has closed an over-subscribed Series A Funding round that generated $8.3 million ­– capital the company will use to accelerate its transformation from a drone services company to a provider of what it calls airborne intelligence.

Daytona Beach, Florida-based Censys had set the fundraising bar at $8 million, a target it overshot with the backing of three venture capital investors. CEO Trevor Perrott says the new infusion will finance Censys’s shift from relying its own drones and sensors to providing services to clients using an integrated package of data gathering and analysis tech that adds depth to the ways customers can use information gathered. To facilitate that, Perrott told the OrlandoInno site the company will triple its current staff of 48 people by April.

Founded by three Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University graduates in 2017, Censys has offered its sensor-packed Sentaero drones for mapping, imaging, and data gathering missions to utility, engineering, public service, and agricultural clients. In addition to producing and supply those sensor-equiped craft – one for visual line of sight operation, the other for flights beyond that – Perrott says Censys will now use its capital injection to assemble a full range of software and hardware solutions that he believes will magnify the value of data collected and analyzed when customers put it to work.

“This Series A takes us a big step closer to bringing a wiser world into existence,” said Perrott. “It all ties back to our mission of enriching lives through technology because we believe the cornerstone of value creation is knowing the quantity, quality, location, and history of its assets. Once you know that, it is easier to understand and envision how to employ those assets to create value.”

The new funding will also support Censys’s push to obtain its Federal Aviation Administration Type Certification for its drones, permitting them to operate above structures and roads without previously obtaining waivers.

David Scalzo, the managing partner of the Kirenaga Partners venture capital fund that participated in the Series A subscription, said that backing reflected his belief in Censys’s shift from a standard drone services company to one striving to be an aerial intelligence standout.

“After leading Censys’s seed round, Kirenaga is thrilled to lead their Series A funding,” Scalzo, said. “This new round will help expand their manufacturing capacity and continue their advancements in imaging, data processing and machine learning. In the rapidly growing drone and imaging marketplace, Censys continues to be one of the industry leaders.”