The Travelers Companies Makes Strategic Investment in Kittyhawk

Kittyhawk, the market leader in enterprise drone operations software, has announced a strategic investment from The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV). The investment will help the company bring unified drone operations to new markets.

Travelers has been a pioneer in adopting the use of drones within the insurance industry. The company was one of the first to integrate drone operations into its claim inspections when it launched its drone program in 2016 and conducted its first large-scale deployment after Hurricane Matthew. Today, Travelers has nearly 600 dedicated Claim professionals that are FAA-certified drone pilots.

As the drone program has grown within Travelers, so too has the opportunity to leverage the data and the task of managing compliance and safety requirements. Kittyhawk has supported the growth of Travelers’ drone operation by streamlining the data, hardware and software into one single system of record.

“Using drones to assess property damage enables us to enhance our customers’ experience, adjust claims more quickly and efficiently and improve safety for our employees and vendors,” said Nick Seminara, Executive Vice President, Claim Services at Travelers. “Kittyhawk helps us manage the vast amounts of information we gather on inspections so we can help our customers recover from disasters faster than ever before. We continue to leverage new technologies in our business, including within our drone program, and we are pleased to further our relationship with Kittyhawk.”

No longer do companies have to contend with a wide and ever-changing array of apps, license agreements, support procedures and data security concerns of having multiple vendors. Designed for drone operations that perform business-critical tasks, Kittyhawk makes it easier for companies to manage, track and fly drones safely and effectively.

“Travelers is a model for other companies to follow when scaling a drone program,” said Jon Hegranes, Kittyhawk CEO and Co-Founder. “We’re excited to deepen our relationship with a trusted industry leader as we bring drone operations to new industries. Our focus at Kittyhawk is continuing to build the best tools that make using drones approachable and effective. Every company can be a drone company.”

About Kittyhawk

Kittyhawk unifies the mission, aircraft, and data to empower safe and effective drone operations. Based in San Francisco, the company develops full stack enterprise drone solutions for professional pilots and fleet managers in media, insurance, energy, transportation, law enforcement and emergency management. Founded in 2015, the company has received $9.5 million in aggregate funding from Travelers, Bonfire Ventures, Boeing HorizonX Ventures, Freestyle Ventures, and The Flying Object (TFO). Learn more at https://kittyhawk.io.