U.S. Autonomous Drone Maker, Skydio — the leading U.S. drone manufacturer and world leader in autonomous flight — announces an investment of $170 million in Series D Funding, which is led by Andreessen Horowitz’s Growth Fund.” Such funding for U.S. drone manufacturers has just broken through another record, which brings total funding raised to over $340 million with a current valuation of over $1 billion.
Investors, Linse Capital, Next47, IVP, along with new investor UP, joined with Andreessen Horowitz, which also led the Series A. Such additional capital will enable Skydio to speed up product development and global sales expansion to support the increasing demand for its autonomous drone solutions.
David Ulevitch, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, stated:
“The initial wave of hype around enterprise drones passed many years ago, but we’re now seeing these markets really mature. Autonomy is the key for drones to reach scale, and Skydio has established themselves as the defining company in this category. We’re excited to continue to invest in this magical combination of breakthrough technology, rapid growth, and an incredible team in a market that’s going through an inflection point.”*
The Partner at Linse Capital, Bastiaan Janmaat, said:
“From the moment we met the Skydio team and saw the S2 in action, we knew this was going to be a world-changing company. Think of all the dangerous jobs requiring ladders, harnesses, or helicopters to do work that can now, with Skydio, be done much more safely and efficiently. Autonomous drones will enable our aging infrastructure to be monitored much more effectively and our first responders will have greater situational awareness than ever before.”*
Skydio has made significant progress in every market category in the last year:
- The continued adoption of Skydio 2 by consumers.
- The largest ever enterprise drone deal with EagleView for residential roof inspection.
- The downselection for final integration as part of the Army Short Range Reconnaissance Program.*
It is not surprising that Skydio has been chosen in a variety of deployments across construction companies, departments of transportation, energy utilities, and police departments. Because Skydio autonomous drones have proven themselves innumerous areas (e.g. infrastructure inspection, search and rescue, situational awareness, emergency response, etc.), leading enterprises and public sector organizations, such as Jacobs Engineering, Sundt Construction, the US Civil Air Patrol, Ohio Department of Transportation, North Carolina Department of Transportation, Boston PD, and Sacramento Metro Fire Department have come to rely on them.
The fact that Skydio drones are manufactured in the U.S. has been an important selling point for customers from the government since the U.S. government separates from Chinese-manufactured technology platforms. The Skydio X2D is Skydio’s government and public safety solution, as it was included on the U.S. government Blue sUAS list, which is a short list of only 5 vetted and approved secure platforms.
The U.S. government has also recognized drone technology as an essential platform and thereby provided Skydio, and other drone companies, with CARES Act funding, during the pandemic.
Adam Bry, CEO and Co-founder of Skydio, shares his excitement for the role of his company in present and future drone technology:
“This is an important milestone for us as a company, but also for the U.S. drone industry. Together with our customers, we’re proving that a U.S. company can lead the way in this industry through AI and autonomy. Things are already pretty exciting, but we are just scratching the surface of what autonomous drones can do.”*
Skydio’s foundational premise is that autonomy is the key ingredient to reach the full potential of drones. In order for drones to be transformed, intelligent devices that can dynamically understand and adjust to the environment in which they are operated, is crucial.
When Skydio 2 was introduced in 2019, it marked the beginning of an ambitious agenda to introduce drones to the age of software and AI-based autonomy. The upcoming release of the new Skydio X2, is the recipient of “CES’s 2021 Best of Innovation Award,” and Skydio 3D Scan, the adaptive scanning software is the first of its kind.
Future
The significant investment by Skydio is very exciting because it will accelerate the companies’ already incredible growth. With the release of the new Skydio X2, and Skydio 3D Scan — the first-of-its-kind adaptive scanning software — such a futuristic combination sets the pace for other companies to follow, which is a reminder that the sky’s the limit!
