commercial drones
Skydio takes flight with new drone docking stations for easy remote deployment
Autonomous drones have a tremendous amount of potentially valuable use cases, but even if the drones have the smarts to go and do their jobs by themselves they need to come home to base to recharge. S
Zipline raises $250M at $2.75B valuation to build out its instant logistics service
Drone delivery startup Zipline, a company that got its start delivering medical supplies across Africa, has raised $250 million in new funding. This latest round has vaulted the company’s valuation
Zipline begins US medical delivery with drone program honed in Africa
Drones are being deployed in the fight to curb COVID-19 in the U.S. Novant Health and California-based UAV delivery startup Zipline have launched distribution of personal protective gear and medical e
New FAA proposal would let drones fly over people and at night without a waiver
Companies impatient to make drone deliveries a viable reality should have a win to celebrate soon. On Monday, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao announced in a “sneak preview” that he
Failed drone startup Airware auctions assets, Delair buys teammates
Airware desperately sought cash for 18 months before running out of money and shutting down last month, leaving about 120 employees without jobs after the startup had burned $118 million in funding. B
Drone startup Airware crashes, shuts down after burning $118M
Drone operating system startup Airware today suddenly informed employees it will cease operations immediately despite having raised $118 million from top investors like Andreessen Horowitz, GoogleR
Betterview just raised $2 million to analyze drone footage for insurers
Betterview, a 2.5-year-old, San Francisco-based company whose software can analyze detailed aerial footage captured by drones to help insurers better understand a property's condition, has raised $2 m
Investors are betting 3DR can find life after Solo as a drone data platform
An early player in drone-tech, 3D Robotics Inc. on Thursday announced that it has raised $53 million in a Series D round of funding, including new equity funding and conversion of debt equity. Atlanti
With DroneDeploy’s Fieldscanner, pilots can create maps as they fly
Flying drones to inspect a farm, construction site, or any other venue from overhead can generate a huge amount of data. It takes time, though, for drone users to upload and turn this high-resolution
SkyX drones are half-helicopter, half-plane and built to fly long distances
A Markham, Ontario startup called SkyX Ltd. emerged from stealth today to share with TechCrunch details about its unique industrial drone designs. The company’s SkyOne drones take off and land like
John Deere partners with Kespry to bring drones and aerial data to construction and forestry
Heavy equipment makers Deere & Co., better known as John Deere, have forged a strategic alliance with drone-tech startup Kespry, the companies announced Tuesday in Las Vegas at CONEXPO, an interna
Energy giant AES partners with Measure to improve worker safety with drones
Major power producer AES Corp. is ramping up the use of drones with an eye toward shielding workers from industry hazards. Rather than buy all their own unmanned aerial systems, they’ve engaged D.C
Caterpillar invests in Airware bringing drone tech to mining and construction enterprises
The venture arm of Caterpillar Inc., a major manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, has invested in San Francisco drone tech startup Airware. Rather than make its own unmanned aerial vehi
Forget flying cars — passenger drones are the future
In the July 1924 issue of Popular Science, “Ace of Aces” fighter pilot E.V. Rickenbacker told readers to expect “Flying Autos in 20 Years.” Rickenbacker’s flying car would have retractable 1
Amazon patents show flying warehouses that send delivery drones to your door
We’ve known about Amazon’s drone delivery ambitions since 2013. But patent filings from Amazon, circulated today by CB Insights’ Zoe Leavitt, reveal more details about how the e-commerce t
What the drone industry wants from the FAA and Trump
The commercial drone industry in the U.S. hasn’t heard much from the President-elect about his plans for rulemaking that will impact their business and global competitiveness. Last month, Associate
Hangar raises $6.5 million to give companies all the drone data they want without having to fly themselves
Drones and pilots legally permitted to fly them are here in spades. So American businesses are scrambling to figure out how to use drones to gain a competitive advantage. Recent examples saw Travelers
In a first, FAA allows PrecisionHawk to fly drones where pilots can’t see them
The Federal Aviation Administration has given permission to a drone tech startup called PrecisionHawk to fly its unmanned aerial vehicles beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) in U.S. airspace. The
New rules for commercial drone use take effect today in the U.S.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration put new rules into effect today regulating the commercial use of small, unmanned aircraft systems, or drones. The rules apply to drones that weigh up to 55 pou
Fixed-wing drones not quite taking off in commercial market, a new DroneDeploy study finds
DroneDeploy released a new study of the commercial and industrial drones market this week, revealing bad news for the makers of fixed-wing drones — quadcopters are far outpacing this type of unm