Sky-Futures, a US-based provider of drone inspection services for the oil and gas industry, has secured $5.7m in a series B round that included helicopter services company Bristow, TechCrunch reported on Thursday.
Bristow revealed two days before that it had invested $4.2m in Sky-Futures as part of a partnership agreement that will involve it also taking a board seat.
The remaining $1.5m was supplied by MMC Ventures, the venture capital firm that provided $3.9m in series A funding for Sky-Futures in May 2015.
Founded in 2009, Sky-Futures provides high-definition video, stills and thermal imagery data to oil and gas companies in 16 countries through a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Jonathan Baliff, CEO of Bristow, said: “In this new market reality where continued cost pressures compel companies to find new solutions, our investment in Sky-Futures puts Bristow at the forefront of offering innovative solutions that help our mutual clients achieve further efficiencies in their operations.
“Through our partnership, we will collaborate with Sky-Futures and its leading safety culture, operational integration, and analysis technology to capitalise beyond the growing need for global UAV inspection services in oil and gas to other industries, including search and rescue.”
– Photo courtesy of Sky-Futures