US-based drone technology producer PrecisionHawk raised $75m in funding today in a round featuring corporates Comcast, Exelon, Intel, DuPont, Verizon, Yamaha Motor, USAA, NTT Docomo and Syngenta.
Venture capital firm Third Point Ventures led the round, which also included Innovate Indiana Fund, the seed investment vehicle of Indiana University, as well as Senator Ventures and Millennium Technology Value Partners.
Mass media group Comcast, energy company Exelon and semiconductor technology provider Intel invested through respective subsidiaries Comcast Ventures, Constellation Technology Ventures and Intel Capital.
Agribusiness Syngenta, chemicals producer DuPont and telecommunications firms Verizon and NTT Docomo meanwhile participated through their Syngenta Ventures, DuPont Ventures, Verizon Ventures and NTT Docomo Ventures units.
PrecisionHawk has created an enterprise software platform that can be used to control unnamed aerial vehicles and enable users to process, model and analyse data collected by the drones. The software also offers the ability to fly drones on autopilot.
The funding will go toward a recruitment drive, product development and strategic acquisitions. James Goldinger, managing director at ClearSky Power and Technology Fund, has joined the company’s board of directors.
PrecisionHawk has now raised $105m in funding, having received $10m in a 2014 series B round backed by Intel Capital, Millennium Technology Value Partners, Innovate Indiana Fund and angel investor Bob Young.
Intel Capital, Millennium and Innovate Indiana returned for the company’s $18m series C round in 2016, investing together with Verizon Ventures, NTT Docomo Ventures, engine and automotive equipment maker Yamaha Motor and a subsidiary of financial services provider USAA.
Katrin Burt, managing director of Syngenta Ventures, said: “Syngenta has been a PrecisionHawk customer since 2015 and has experienced first-hand the impact of the technology platform; both augmenting and replacing a variety of manual processes for more efficient and scalable operations.
“This investment reflects our commitment to advancing technologies that could have a real impact within agriculture and our excitement about the potential for PrecisionHawk to lead the commercial drone space across multiple industries.”