AirMap has been making waves in the drone side of the industry. The startup has quickly rose through the ranks to be one of the top suppliers of air traffic management software for drones. Drawing in attention from Microsoft and Airbus, the company’s latest round of funding saw $26 million in financing from a group of investors led by Microsoft Ventures.
Although AirMap is only 2 years in operation, they claim to provide real-time traffic management services for 80 percent of all drones. That includes millions of robotic aircraft from hundreds of manufacturers, sharing data amongst drone and controllers for flying safely at low altitudes. Their software works on both piloted and autonomous drones used in both commercial and recreational applications.
The company’s airspace management dashboard, Digital Notice and Awareness System, is used by 125 airports. the system open surrounding airspace to drones, view past and current drone flights, track digital flight notices, and communicate with drone operators. The data they use include situational awareness, flight planning, and geofencing, adding real-time manned traffic alerts, live wildfire information, microscale weather, and more.
According to Reuters, “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, Switzerland’s senseFly, a unit of Parrot SA, U.S.-based 3D Robotics (3DR) and Canada’s Aeryon Labs.”
In a statement, Microsoft Ventures said “We believe that by investing in companies like AirMap, Microsoft’s resources, platforms and AI technologies can help fuel the future of the drone ecosystem.”
Airbus said it would collaborate with AirMap, “helping build the essential safety infrastructure to introduce and secure traffic patterns for autonomous vehicles into the airspace.”
Since the company was founded in 2015, AirMap has raised more than $43 million in investment capital. AirMap currently employs 50 employees.
Investors for this round include venture capital unit of aerospace giant Airbus, chipmaker Qualcomm, Japanese tech firms Rakuten and Sony and China’s Yuneec, a top drone maker.
