Airobotics: Keeping an eye on industrial facilities from the sky
Airobotics has developed automated, unmanned industrial drones to address unique challenges in complex industrial environments. The aerial data collected by this Israel based startup can provide critical insights for industrial corporations. The company has raised $32.5 million in round C financing led by BlueRun Ventures China and Microsoft Ventures and was also recognized as Israel’s top 10 Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company. The company plans to expand its business into defense and homeland security, and to expand its business globally.
There are numerous startups that are working on drone technologies in sectors such as retail, logistics, and farming. However, regulatory restrictions have prevented rapid adoption of drones across the globe. Airobotics has received full approvals to operate in Israel and partial approval in Australia and the US. Further, the strong focus of the company on enterprise segments such as industrial and defense has provided competitive edge and leadership in these segments.
The unmanned or automated drones have significant advantages over human operated drones in terms of costs, availability of personnel and reliability or accuracy. These advantages provide a strong use case for Airobotics’ drones in surveillance operations for the military where it may not be possible to use humans for round the clock surveillance in remote or high-risk areas. In industrial facilities, Airobotics can yield critical data and insights for informed decision making pertaining to emergency response, inspection, and security.
Airobotics has picked up a niche segment in drone industry and the regulatory approvals obtained by the company are just a stepping stone for success in the vast industrial and defense segment. We see a strong potential for the company’s applications across industrial hubs in Asia also.