Dive Brief:
- Drone startup Skycatch — with major backer Avalon Ventures LLC, among others — said it expects to make industry history as it scores the most funding ever achieved for a company producing drones and software used for monitoring construction sites, oil facilities, and similar work areas.
- Skycatch is in the process of raising an estimated $30 million funding infusion from private investors as interest in the drone market takes off.
- The startup has already received attention in the construction industry for its work with Japanese firm Komatsu. Using its drones, Skycatch helped the company keep an eye on equipment at its construction site.
Dive Insight:
Skycatch, based in San Francisco, rakes in revenue by charging a monthly fee to use its drones — which have the ability to fly on their own — as well as for analysis of the data obtained from the machines. The company reports it is already receiving orders for over $10 million worth of its services.
Construction firms and real estate agents are still anxiously awaiting approval to use drones from the Federal Aviation Administration, which hasn't yet announced blanket rules across all industries for the technology. However, the agency has already approved nearly 400 exemptions, according to NBC News.
Global construction and engineering giant Bechtel, which was among those companies to receive permission from the FAA to fly drones over its job sites, already employs Skycatch technology.
