Less than five months after closing a $12.5 million Series C round, DroneBase, an intelligent aerial imaging startup, raised another $20 million, with the round led by Euclidean Capital.
The raise will fund the company's continued expansion into commercial and industrial markets, including construction and energy.
Previous investors, focused on technology and renewable energy, who include Union Square Ventures, Upfront Ventures, Energy Transition Ventures, Hearst Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital and Valor Equity Partners, also joined this raise.
“We’ve seen a significant shift in the intelligent imaging industry in the last six months; the industry has consolidated with several companies unable to compete globally or unable to find the right combination of software and deep vertical expertise,” says Ashvin Chhabra, president and chief investment officer, Euclidean Capital. “We chose to invest in DroneBase because the company has a unique operational and software approach that creates value for companies with high-value assets in multiple industries, such as renewable energy, insurance, commercial real estate and construction.”
The world is on a fast path to more sustainable high-value infrastructure, and that includes assets, such as solar and wind energy systems and better buildings to support 21st-century commerce and supply chains. DroneBase intelligent aerial imaging and analysis allows companies to manage risk and protect those properties efficiently and affordably.
“This year, we’ve added top talent to our team and expanded into Europe. While we have done over 37GW of renewable energy inspections to date, this growth funding enables us to dramatically increase those numbers, scaling to meet the needs of the renewables industry. The bottom line is we intend to meet our global clients’ needs in one comprehensive solution that spans data analysis and capture,” says Dan Burton, CEO of DroneBase.
Whether deploying drones to capture high-resolution photos of wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean, commercial real estate complexes after a hurricane in Texas, or flying manned aircraft to capture thermal data of a utility-scale solar farm, the DroneBase team delivers intelligent aerial images and reports that quickly pinpoint the action that insurers, property managers or owners/operators can take to efficiently reduce risk, recover revenue, or improve the build quality of their high-value infrastructure.
“The solar market is on a fast track to rapid growth, driven by the demands of net-zero commitments. The industry absolutely requires advanced data capture and analytics to continue to scale. Intelligent software and services provided by Dronebase will help improve system generation and enable renewable energy market leaders to continue to grow rapidly," says Craig Lawrence, partner at Energy Transition Ventures, who formerly held executive roles at SunEdison and SolarBridge. "We are thrilled to continue our partnership with DroneBase and to join Euclidean Capital for this raise.”
