Media company Bloomberg’s corporate venturing unit, Bloomberg Beta, has participated in a $10.5m series A round for Shield AI, the US-based developer of an artificially intelligent drone.
Venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz led the round, which included Homebrew and Founder Collective, and Andreesen Horowitz general partner Peter Levine will join the company’s board of directors.
Founded in 2015, Shield AI has developed an unmanned aerial vehicle that can use artificial intelligence to detect people or threats inside buildings without being controlled by a human pilot.
The company already has contracts in place with the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. It raised $2.6m in funding in May 2016 according to a securities filing.
Brandon Tseng, CEO of Shield AI, claimed: “When deployed, Shield AI drones will be the first example of service members using artificial intelligence on the battlefield to gather real-time information that saves lives and will provide immediate protection to US ground forces and innocent civilians caught in conflict.”
– Photo courtesy of Shield AI