Drone industry

Sniffer Robotics, whose SnifferDRONE methane leak detection system is the only drone-based solution approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) for use at municipal solid waste landfill sites, has raised $2 million in seed funding.

Drone mapping and surveying software specialist Propeller Aero says it has scooped up $15.35 million in fresh funding from new and existing investors. The round was led by VC firms and longtime Propeller supporters, Blackbird and Costanoa, with additional investments coming from Australian industry fund Aware Super, Canva founder Cliff Obrecht, and serial entrepreneur Leigh Jasper.

PrecisionHawk, one of the first US drone businesses to raise big VC money, has been scooped up by European technology company Field. The acquisition gives Norway-based Field a foothold in the US and plans are in place to operate PrecisionHawk under the Field brand name by the end of the year.

Germany-based research firm Drone Industry Insights (Droneii) has released its annual flagship report, ranking the companies that manufacture drones. The research team assessed around 500 global companies whose core business is to build drones, and concluded that the top drone manufacturers in the world are based in either China or the US. Here are the best drone companies of 2022, as per DII’s report…

Continuing its recent growth and acquisition spree, Canadian drone firm Volatus Aerospace has signed a new agreement, agreeing to buy New York-based UAS distributor and integrator Empire Drone Company.

With thousands of companies working with drones all around the globe, you may wonder which are the ones who are truly making a difference. Research firm Drone Industry Insights (DII) took stock of nearly 850 organizations whose core business is to offer drone services to third parties. Here are the top drone companies of 2022, according to DII’s assessment.

Germany-based drone start-up Quantum-Systems has bagged $17.5 million in new funding from investors, including billionaire tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel who cofounded PayPal and was the first outside investor in Facebook.

Drone mapping platform DroneDeploy is joining forces with interior reality capture specialist StructionSite to accelerate automation in the construction and energy industries.

Canadian drone startup Spexi Geospatial has secured $5.5 million in seed funding to fuel the world’s first standardized “fly-to-earn” drone imagery platform powered by blockchain technology.

Miami-based drone services company Airborne Response has been scooped up by safety and security solutions specialist Safe Pro Group.

Commercial UAV Expo, one of the most highly-anticipated drone trade shows of the year, opens next week in Las Vegas with more than 225 organizations showcasing their solutions to over 2,500 drone professionals from across the world. One of these organizations is India’s ideaForge, which is using the conference as the first step toward building a local presence in the North American market.

The drone industry, which saw more than 40 mergers and acquisitions in 2021 alone, may do well to take some advice from AgEagle Aerial Systems on both acquisitions and negotiation strategy.

In a development that many didn’t see coming, Ondas Holdings has announced a deal to acquire drone-in-a-box solution provider Airobotics. The news comes barely a year after Ondas’s acquisition of American Robotics, a fellow player in the fully automated drone ecosystem.

Germany-based Quantum Systems, the maker of the popular fixed-wing Trinity and Vector/Scorpion eVTOL drones, has raised $32 million through a mix of equity and debt financing in its Series A funding round.

SkySpecs, a Michigan-based company whose drone software is used to monitor about 45% of all wind turbine blades in North America, has scooped up a cool $80 million in strategic funding to grow its product portfolio as well as geographic footprint. The funding round was led by Goldman Sachs with participation from NextEra Energy Resources and existing investors.

Terra Drone Corporation, a drone and urban air mobility (UAM) technology company headquartered in Japan, announced today it has scooped up a cool $70 million in Series B funding. The company, which was ranked as the “top drone service provider in the world” by market research firm Drone Industry Insights in 2019 and 2020, is now looking at establishing a US office and pushing out its uncrewed traffic management (UTM) offerings to the global market.

Everybody has heard about drones by now, but there are several other oft-used terms like UAS and UAV that tend to confuse readers. So, what exactly is a drone and how is it different from these other commonly heard terms such as UAS, UAV, FPV, RPAS, and model aircraft?

Drone Industry Insights (DII) analyzed more than 500 global companies whose core business is to manufacture drones. Here’s what they found…

After spending the last couple of months to acquire a $9 million stake in a European drone manufacturing firm and buying out an AI-based software company for an undisclosed sum, Aquiline Drones has quietly laid off nearly half of its workforce.

Research firm DroneAnalyst has just released its fifth annual drone market report, which combines findings from its annual survey and interviews with key industry stakeholders. The independent advisory firm has earned a reputation for being one of the most credible voices in the ever-expanding drone industry, and there’s a lot to unpack in the report. But, for now, let’s focus on four core insights, beginning with DJI’s commercial market share taking a massive hit in 2021.

At first, Ignatius Asabor’s journey from Nigeria to Finland could sound like feel-good fiction. “You can’t imagine how happy I am,” he tells you with his trademark toothy grin. But dig deeper, and you realize it’s a story of ambition, hard work, and tenacity. It also serves as a case in point that social media can be a very powerful tool in landing your dream job.