Israeli Drone Company Flies High With $30 Million

Devices are better when you don’t have to control them.

Autonomous drone company Airobotics has raised $30 million in Series D funding. The round was led by Pavillion Capital, with participation from CRV, BlueRun Ventures, and OurCrowd. The Israel-based company has raised a known total of $101 million, according to Crunchbase. Previous investors include Microsoft Ventures (now M12), UpWest Labs, and Waze CEO Noam Bardin.

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Founded in 2014, Airobotics manufactures fully autonomous drones for industrial applications. According to its website, its drones can be used to scan equipment for safety issues, map and survey facilities, monitor security, and measure stockpiles. According to its site, it currently works in the mining, seaports, oil and gas, and industrial facility industries, and has 171 employees.

The company has also secured government contracts and wants to move into the homeland security market, according to TechCrunch. It has said its drone can be applied to “monitor and help secure borders, high-risk facilities, and monitor for terrorism and other kinds of warfare,” per TechCrunch’s coverage of its previous round.

Other drone companies have aimed at the industrial mapping and security spaces. 3D Robotics, for example, has applied its technology to the construction and mapping industries and secured government contracts, though its drones are not autonomous. Companies like DroneShield, Skysafe, and Dedrone have created technology of their own to detect and take down rogue drones, for example.

Of the companies in the drone and drone management space that have raised significant amounts since 2017, Airobotics is among the top five. Others include 3D Robotics, mentioned above, Airware, which actually shut down despite receiving $118 million in venture funding, Saildrone, and Skydio, which creates autonomous drones for recreational use. Take a look: