PrecisionHawk, a Raleigh-based developer of drones and software for analysis of aerial data, has landed Intel Capital as another high-profile investor in a $10 million investment round.
Intel announced the investment Tuesday at its own Intel Capital Global Summit.
“Drones hold the promise of revolutionizing many industries, some new and some very old, like farming,” said Jerry Bautista, vice president and general manager of Intel’s New Business Initiatives, in a statement. “We are pleased to be working with PrecisionHawk, whose unique approach of combining versatile remote-sensing devices with powerful data analytics fits well with Intel’s strengths in hardware and software for the Internet of Things.”
Tammi Smorynski, who led the deal for Intel Capital, will serve as an adviser to PrecisionHawk’s board.
“Intel Capital understands, as we do, that the UAV platform is not the product. Our product is information delivery,” said Christopher Dean, PrecisionHawk’s CEO, in a statement. “The expertise that this group will bring in maneuvering the highly-competitive global market combined with our information-first model and data-driven approach will be invaluable as we continue to service an increasingly large, and growing, market sector.”
Millennium Technology Value Partners led the round. Previous investors Bob Young, the co-founder of Red Hat, and the Innovate Indiana Fund also participated.
PrecisionHawk has offices in Raleigh, Indianapolis and Toronto.
With the funding, the company plans to add an office in Texas where it has struck a partnership with Texas A&M University.
PrecisionHawk says it will expand its work force, speed up product development and accelerate its sales efforts. The company says more than 50 clients have already signed on.
Millennium said PrecisionHawk’s use of unmanned aerial vehicle technology drew its attention.
“Our firm believes that substantial value is being created by the transformative effect of UAV technology,” said Samuel Schwerin, founder and Managing Partner of Millennium Technology Value Partners, in announcing the deal.
“PrecisionHawk envisions a world, as we do, where businesses across a wide variety of industries can access aerial information and gain actionable insights in an affordable, turnkey manner. This investment is a way to accelerate the development of an open platform for many innovative applications to be built upon.”
The startup says industry analysts estimate the UAV market to be worth $77 billion or more in the coming decade.
“At the end of the day, our customers want a cost-effective, easy to use and efficient solution that will allow them to do more with less,” said PrecisionHawk CEO Christopher Dean in the announcement. “The close of this funding round, with such well-respected investors, is an exciting step forward and clear validation of our end-to-end approach and market leadership.”
Millennium has invested in 72 firms over the past 12 years, including Facebook, Twitter, Zappos, Alibaba, Tumblr and iPass.
