Vol 15 - $162m in funding rounds, two world & two US firsts & reflecting on the Commercial UAV Expo '23

Ok, so it's been a while!

Firstly apologies for the 4 week delay from Volume 14. For those that hadn't seen already, I am in the process of launching my own Drone & Robotics talent solutions business. And as many who have Founded a business or worked in a start-up will confirm, it's an all consuming process! Keep your eyes peeled for launch late-September.

The good news is DroneZone is back, and a lot has happened in this space since the Commercial UAV Expo in Vegas!

For those that are new to #DroneZone, over the coming weeks we will cover news on a wide range of applications including –

?? Delivery & Logistics ?? Medical ?? Disaster Relief and Search & Rescue ??Agriculture ?? Surveying & Mapping ?? Inspection????Photography & Videography ?? Defence

So sit back, relax, and let us take you on a journey into the exciting world of drones!

Company of the Week

This weeks Company of the Week goes to San Diego headquartered Shield AI following yesterday's $150m investor raise, seeing their total capital raised since their inception in 2015 to $720m and a company valuation of $2.5b. This is one of the largest individual raises in the drone market this year, only bettered by Zipline 's $330m raise in April.

Co-Founded by brothers Ryan Tseng ???? (CEO) and Brandon Tseng (President) and Andrew Reiter , central to Shield AI 's offering is its AI-based drone & aviation software, Hivemind. Essentially a self-driving AI pilot for aircraft that operates independent of communication or GPS, with clear beneficial use cases in defence, surveillance and other critical applications.

Shield AI 's three main applications include the US Airforce F-16, boasting a 99% win-rate in simulations against Airforce & Navy pilots, the V-BAT surveillance and security drone, and the Nova 2 drone utilised for combat and capable of precision indoor flight.

Their systems use machines to execute complex, unscripted tasks in denied and dynamic environments without direct operator inputs and offer an integrated AI framework for data management and analysis, scalable simulation, and self-directed learning which radically accelerates product development workflows, resolving critical information deficiencies, enabling teams of aircraft to perform missions ranging from room clearance to penetrating air defence systems, and dog fighting.

Recent successes include last weeks autonomous teaming demo of three Northrop Grumman V-BAT drones, June's agreement with Kratos Defense and Security Solutions to integrate Hivemind into the Valkyrie XQ-58 and a coloration with Boeing to integrate into both existing and future defence platforms.

Want to see their product in action? Click the image below and check out the great video posted on their LinkedIn page -

Socials -?LinkedIn,?Website

Hot Topic

Last week's Commercial UAV News in Las Vegas continued the upward trend on scale and attendance from the previous year, hosting 206 exhibitors from 22 countries, had over 4,000 registrants and was supported by 339 publications, portals, associations, user groups, analysts, cooperating events, and government agencies.

Aside from the sheer numbers and interest in this year's event, there was a plethora of highlights from the Expo including the FAA's Drone Safety team announcing a new charter, discussions around the future of AI integration in drones and the future of drone deliver - including a great presentation by Workhorse . Other standouts from the exhibitor showcases included Skygauge Robotics discussing the impact of drones on industrial inspection and BRINC Drones 's discussion around enhancing law enforcement through utilisation of Drones. uAvionix Corporation's exemption approval (covered in our News section) was aptly timed given Day Two's agenda from the FAA to talk about key discussion points and challenges with BVLOS.

But with so many exhibitors and newsworthy conversations, I'd love to hear your thoughts from the event!

?? Which of the exhibitors or talks from the showcases impressed you the most? What were your take homes from the event? And based on what you heard and saw, what are the biggest challenges facing the growth and mass consumer adoption on drone technology?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

The Latest in Drones News

??? Windracers , the UK based cargo drone operator, made history after they successfully landed (and subsequently took off) the first fully autonomous and pilotless aircraft on a Royal Navy aircraft carrier at sea. Want to see the amazing footage - click here - courtesy of Navy Lookout!

Congratulations to Rob Datson FRAeS , Charles Scales and the rest of the Windracers team!

?? In another world first, Viking Drone Packaging have developed a crash protecting container for the drone and cargo drone markets that has now achieved certification from the UK government in line with the CAA's test programme. This means the possibility of delivering the most high risk goods by drone over populated areas will soon be possible. Co-Founder David Weilert went on to give insight in to their next application,

"Our next focus is on providing a solution for transporting radiopharmaceutical therapies for use in cancer treatment and continuing to bring exciting new capabilities to the drone industry in innovative ways”.

??? Airobotics became the first US company to receive the Airworthiness Certification for a DIAB for data capture and emergency response from the Federal Aviation Administration, for their Optimus-1EX.

Airobotics ’ CEO Meir Kliner commented

“We are thrilled to be the only US company currently to have the capability to deploy fully automated drones with Type Certificate in the US as permanent aerial infrastructures in populated and complex environments. Drones without an airworthiness certificate face great obstacles in obtaining waivers to operate over people and active roads, and we believe that our Type certified Optimus-1EX drone will soon be deployed in a broader range of scenarios. The last type certificate given by the FAA was for a package delivery drone and now we have opened the opportunity for more lifesaving applications such as Drone First Responding (DFR), rapid infrastructure survey for disaster relief applications and more".

???As discussed in the Hot Topic above, a great piece of news to come from the Commercial UAV News was uAvionix Corporation 's approval of exemption to a number of the FAA's CFRs, allowing the business to operate their UAS BVLOS in North Dakota. This exemption opens up similar routes to BVLOS across other UAS businesses in the sector so is something of a landmark event for the industry! Hats off to uAvionix Corporation Founder & CEO Paul Beard for this huge impactful achievement!

?? Treeswift , the forest monitoring and data collection business powered by drones and AI, last week raised $10.81 million of venture funding from Contour Venture Partners and other undisclosed investors. This follows their $4.8m seed funding in March 2022. I'm excited to see how CEO Steven Chen and the team utilize this latest raise to grow and develop the business further.

???Bristol (UK) based Perceptual Robotics , who develop drones used for wind turbine inspections, last week successfully raised ￡2.67m in funding from Brookstreet Equity Partners LLP , L-Stone Capital , Susten , One Planet Capital , TSP Ventures , Metavallon VC and Deeptech Labs and other undisclosed investors.

Perceptual Robotics CEO Konstantinos Karachalios said: “We are delighted to bring Susten onboard, which will further enhance our work, allowing us to continue to grow as a business. The investment will enhance our company’s aims by further expanding our talented team and support with our expansion into new markets”.

That's all for this week's edition?#DroneZone! We hope you enjoyed reading about the latest trends, news, and insights from the world of drones. Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter and follow the hashtag?#DroneZone?to receive all the latest updates ??

If you're interested in contributing to our next edition or highlighting the work of a business we haven’t covered, please get in touch!

?? As a Founder of a Drone & Robotics talent solutions business, with over a decade in the Drone & UAS space, I partner with leading hardware, software, solutions providers to attract and retain top talent globally. If you're looking to add exceptional talent to your team or seeking new opportunities in the industry please reach out for a confidential conversation.

Until next time, happy flying! ??