Microsoft, Airbus climb aboard drones software firm AirMap (updated)
23/02/2017 13:39
(Adds details on company background, investors)
By Eric Auchard
FRANKFURT, Feb 23 (Reuters) - AirMap, a start-up which has
become the world's top supplier of air traffic management
software for drones, is raising $26 million in new financing
from a group of industry investors led by the venture capital
investment arm of Microsoft MSFT.O .
The group led by Microsoft Ventures also includes the
venture capital unit of aerospace giant Airbus, chipmaker
Qualcomm QCOM.O , Japanese tech firms Rakuten 4755.T and Sony
6758.T and China's Yuneec, a top drone maker.
AirMap said it provides real-time traffic management
services for 80 percent of all drones, including millions of
robotic aircraft from hundreds of manufacturers, allowing drones
and their controllers to share data needed to fly safely at low
altitudes.
The company was founded only two years ago. Its software
works on both piloted and autonomous drones used in both
commercial and recreational applications.
The new round of financing will enable AirMap to expand into
markets worldwide, while opening offices in Berlin and at the
NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. Headquartered in
Santa Monica, California, the firm now counts just 50 employees.
"This round is all about finding a set of partners to help
us globalise," AirMap Chief Executive Ben Marcus said in an
interview.
Existing investors General Catalyst Partners and Lux Capital
also took part in the round, bringing AirMap's total funding to
more than $43 million since its founded in early 2015.
Marcus, who previously co-founded jetAVIVA, one of the
largest U.S. brokers for small business jets, also serves as the
industry co-chair for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's
Unmanned Aircraft Safety Team which works with the air industry.
AirMap's data and services are already embedded in drones,
ground control stations and flight apps from top drone makers
including China's DJI, U.S. chipmaker Intel INTC.O ,
Switzerland's senseFly, a unit of Parrot SA PARRO.PA ,
U.S.-based 3D Robotics (3DR) and Canada's Aeryon Labs.
More than 125 airports use AirMap's management dashboard to
open surrounding airspace to drones, view past and current drone
flights, track digital flight notices, and communicate with
drone operators.
In a statement, Microsoft Ventures said its investment would
allow AirMap to make use of Microsoft's resources, software and
artificial intelligence tools, as Microsoft seeks to get
involved in the burgeoning drone aviation market.
Airbus said it would collaborate with AirMap to ensure that
autonomous airborne vehicles ranging from delivery drones to the
"flying taxis" it is developing itself can operate safely in the
vicinity of other aircraft. (http://reut.rs/2mouWd4)
(Editing by Maria Sheahan, Greg Mahlich)
((eric.auchard@thomsonreuters.com; +49 69 7565 1235; Reuters
Messaging: eric.auchard.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: AEROSPACE DRONES/AIRMAP