Drone Analytics Startup Sensehawk Raises $2 Million

Data analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being applied all around the world in new, exotic areas and is leading to value creation, better decision-making and increased efficiency for businesses. One such instance of the application, in which a group of engineers has begun a startup with the name of SenseHawk that is delivering AI and data analytics-bases services for companies in the Solar Industry.

Data analytics and AI is a technology and a set of methods that involve the processing of data and deriving useful patterns and decisions from it. Because of AI, the systems running this can learn from the data and get ‘better’ at making decisions. This is a useful tool for many industries where it is essential to extract specific data from remote locations and venues that humans cannot traverse. A number of industries make use of drones for data collection, however, there was a need for a system that can evaluate that data and gain useful insights from it.

SenseHawk, was founded by Rahul Sankhe and Swarup Mavanoor in December 2015 and has 17 employees currently. Both the founders have spent time working for renewable energy company SunEdison. Mavanoor has said that the idea for the business came when using a drone to collect data for a construction project. The team of engineers currently working for the startup is based in Bangalore, India.

SenseHawk helps other companies that own and use drones to collect data to get valuable insights for their projects. The company is developing and AI platform that’s split into different modules, including terrain-based analysis tools, a construction monitoring and analytics system and thermal analysis. The founders said that clients adopt modules based on requirements, with some taking all three.

The company is sticking to the solar energy industry since both the founders belong to it and have an advantage in terms of networks and an understanding of what is needed. The startup is currently active in three markets: two of its home countries i.e. India and USA, and Australia. It has now raised $2 million from SAIF Partners to push its business and expand into new regions. There were also a few investments from undisclosed parties.

The startup plans to use the funds generated to expand into other markets such as Africa and Europe. It is also going to expand its workforce to promote business development and to support its expansion ambitions.

While the information gathering that is done using UAVs by companies already gives considerable more insights than the traditional method of deploying people, the founders realized that there was no service to extract specific data and make use of it. According to Mavanoor, companies are doing basic data processing but nobody is exploiting the range of industries where this could be applied to.