Commercial drone company PrecisionHawk has scored another big funding round, announcing a $32 million VC investment today.  PrecisionHawk has been a major name in the drone industry for several years, evolving from the production of fixed wing aircraft to an enterprise solutions company, providing software and drone services.

It was almost two years ago, in January of 2018, that PrecisionHawk broke through an industry ceiling with an investment of $75 million – only one year after CEO Michael Chasen took the helm.  Since then, PrecisionHawk’s customer size has grown significantly, according to Chasen, and PrecisionHawk has maintained their leadership role in drone regulations and the development of the drone industry.

Today’s announcement is a major win for PrecisionHawk, and a positive sign for the industry.  While the “hype cycle” is indeed over, and investors may be more selective, the appetite for commercial drone offerings is clearly still strong.

The following is a PrecisionHawk press release.

RALEIGH, N.C.—Dec. 11, 2019—PrecisionHawk, Inc., a leading provider of drone technology for the enterprise, today announced a $32 million investment from venture investors including Millennium Technology Value Partners, Third Point Ventures, Eastward Capital Partners, and others. The financing will fuel continued innovation in PrecisionHawk’s software tool, PrecisionAnalytics that uses artificial intelligence/machine learning, to help enterprises better utilize data collected by drones to solve business challenges. The financing will also accelerate sales initiatives and further market expansion.

“This is an exciting time at PrecisionHawk and the commercial drone industry overall as adoption of drones continues to grow at exceptional rates,” said Michael Chasen, CEO of PrecisionHawk. “Our unique software and services deliver incredible value to our customers, equipping them with the highest level of aerial intelligence to meet their current and future asset management and operating needs. We are pleased with this latest round of funding which will help us better address this surging demand, particularly in the energy and agriculture markets, and lead us into sustained profitability and growth.”

Some of the world’s largest organizations, including five of the top 10 utility companies, the largest provider of communications infrastructure in the United States and the “Big Six” providers of seed and agricultural chemicals, rely on PrecisionHawk to help them apply innovative drone hardware, software and services to address critical business challenges. From managing asset inventory to measuring the health of telecommunications towers, electricity distribution lines or even crops, PrecisionHawk’s drone-based solution delivers a flexible and cost-effective path to inspect and manage valuable assets.

The commercial drone industry has grown faster than anticipated and the FAA forecasts that it could triple between now and 2023, with an estimated 823,000 drones flying by that time. With this new funding, PrecisionHawk is well positioned to support the next phase of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) deployments, driven by the need for improved technology that can ensure quality and consistent data collection, maintain safe operations within the United States’ existing national airspace system, and organize and process drone data to make it consumable valuable and actionable.

“We are excited to continue our support of PrecisionHawk during this next phase of its growth. The feedback from customers has been very promising and we believe PrecisionHawk is well positioned to capitalize on the huge market opportunity ahead of it,” said Sam Schwerin, co-founder and Managing Partner of Millennium Technology Value Partners. “PrecisionHawk’s powerful PrecisionAnalytics software applies the latest generation of artificial intelligence to aerial data unlocking the data’s potential to accelerate and optimize work for the enterprise.”

Since its founding in 2010, PrecisionHawk has led policy and technology development efforts to foster global adoption of commercial drone technology. Michael Chasen was recently appointed by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao to serve as the Chairman for the Drone Advisory Committee (DAC), a group established by the FAA to advise on key challenges and opportunities for drones in United States airspace.

“Investments such as this one underscore the tremendous potential of the UAS industry to deliver new applications and services across business sectors,” said Brian Wynne, President and CEO of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). “The demand for UAS technology is remarkable and demonstrates the great confidence investors have in a solid and growing market for years to come.”

PrecisionHawk will continue to lead the way, assisting regulators and encouraging industry participants to adopt innovative policies and technologies that can support not only today’s drone use cases, but those of tomorrow.

About PrecisionHawk

PrecisionHawk is a leading provider of drone technology for the enterprise. PrecisionHawk’s client list includes Fortune 500 companies spanning a range of industries, including agriculture, energy, and telecommunications. To date, PrecisionHawk has raised more than $100 million from leading venture capital firms including Millennium Technology Value Partners and Third Point Ventures, with strategic investments from enterprise customers and partners including Comcast Ventures, DuPont, NTT Docomo, and Yamaha Motor. The company, founded in 2010, is privately held and headquartered in Raleigh, NC.More information about PrecisionHawk can be found atwww.precisionhawk.comor on Twitter@PrecisionHawk.