US-based drone technology producer PrecisionHawk raised $75m in funding today in a round featuring Innovate Indiana Fund, the seed investment vehicle of Indiana University. Venture capital firm Third Point Ventures led the round, which also included Senator Ventures and Millennium Technology Value Partners. Mass media group Comcast, energy company Exelon and semiconductor technology provider Intel invested through respective subsidiaries Comcast Ventures, Constellation Technology Ventures and Intel Capital. Agribusiness Syngenta, chemicals producer DuPont and telecommunications firms Verizon and NTT Docomo meanwhile participated through their Syngenta Ventures, DuPont Ventures, Verizon Ventures and NTT Docomo Ventures units. Founded in 2010, PrecisionHawk has created an enterprise software platform that can be used to control unnamed aerial vehicles and enable users to process, model and analyse data collected by the drones. The software also offers the ability to fly drones on autopilot. The funding will go toward a recruitment drive, product development and strategic acquisitions. James Goldinger, managing director at ClearSky Power and Technology Fund, has joined the company’s board of directors. PrecisionHawk has now raised $105m in funding, having received $10m in a 2014 series B round backed by Innovate Indiana Fund, Intel Capital, Millennium Technology Value Partners and angel investor Bob Young. Innovate Indiana, Intel Capital and Millennium returned for the company’s $18m series C round in 2016, investing together with Verizon Ventures, NTT Docomo Ventures, engine and automotive equipment maker Yamaha Motor and a subsidiary of financial services provider USAA. Katrin Burt, managing director of Syngenta Ventures, said: “Syngenta has been a PrecisionHawk customer since 2015 and has experienced first-hand the impact of the technology platform; both augmenting and replacing a variety of manual processes for more efficient and scalable operations. “This investment reflects our commitment to advancing technologies that could have a real impact within agriculture and our excitement about the potential for PrecisionHawk to lead the commercial drone space across multiple industries.” – A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.

Subscribe to go deeper

GCV subscribers get access to all our proprietary data and deep-dive articles, as well as the global directory of CVC investors.



Not sure if you have a subscription?