Flyability Elios in Action 67 - Operator
Flyability, which is a Swiss company that is building safe drones for operating indoors, just announced that it managed to raise $11 million US dollars in order to further develop and “build the future” of indoor autonomous inspection systems.
Known for its drones that operate indoors – in complex and confined spaces- Flyability enables new interactions and services with UAVs, solving the two most critical issues of the fastest growing industries – collision as well as injury risks.
The new raise will further help the Swiss startup to become a leader in the segment of flying (indoor) robotics and stem innovation, delivering value, safety and fun to everyone.
Patrick Thevoz (right) and Adrien Briod (Left) Photo courtesy of Flyability
The funding went nice and easy, as the startup’s Series A investor ETF Partners co-led the round together with Swisscom Ventures and later the Dow Chemical Company (from the US) which all joined the round with significant stakes. There were many historical investors such as GoBeyond and MKS (Switzerland) as part of this Series A funding.
As the CEO of Flyability, Patrick Thevoz, commented following the raise:
“The continued support from ETF and historic investors was instrumental to our success, and we are very proud to see them renewing their trust in this round. “Having Swisscom and Dow as investors is a strong signal of the market’s interest in our approach of digitizing the industry.”
With this, Flyability promised that it will prevent human exposure to hazardous environments as well as reduce downtime and inspection costs with the new collision-tolerant drone named Elios.
One partner at ETF, Remy de Tonnac, summed up the growth of the startup as well as his confidence in it, stating:
“Flyability has delivered on its vision and has achieved remarkable growth since ETF Partners first invested in 2016.We are pleased to see the company reducing environmental risk across a number of industries, and we are delighted to support Flyability’s next stage goal of delivering inspection on a click.”
With coverage in many countries, more than 350 satisfied customers and more than 500 drones shipped in the field, Flyability is moving closer to seeing itself as a pioneer in the field of indoor drones. In addition to its growth and expansion, the startup’s raised capital will be invested in creating the future of autonomous indoor inspection.
“Our R&D team now focuses on the ease of use of our solutions and on the quality of the data delivered to our customers. Automation plays a key role there, and we are investing towards indoor 3D mapping, localization and autonomous navigation,” said
Adrien Briod who is the CTO of Flyability and Chairman of the Board.
It is no wonder that a company like Flyability is pivoting towards developing a better future in the field of safe drones for inaccessible places. One could have seen this earlier, especially after our exclusive interview with the CEO of the startup, Patrick Thevoz, which was published in March this year.
As Thevoz then expressed the Elios drone and the concept of Flyability, their goal was to mimic the insect movement indoors and especially their collision and recovering features – all as part of the navigation in complex spaces.
When asked about the drone’s potential disruption and revolutionization in the field, Thevoz then said that “Elios is unique in its ability to fly in indoor, confined or complex spaces. As it can safely collide on obstacles, navigate in spaces as small as 40cm, and is able to gather visual inspection data from pitch dark environments.”
He also labeled Elios as helpful in increasing work efficiency and reducing downtime, “or even removing the need for scaffolding, rope access, and other complex and expensive lifting equipment” as Thevoz then stated.
The only real challenge for Elios and Flyability, according to many, is the flight time, which Thevoz described as a “10 minutes per battery” one in our previous interview. However, he also added that “five batteries are provided with each drone purchase, and batteries can be swapped in seconds.”
If you want to read our full interview with the CEO of Flyability, click here.