The Cottonwood Euro Technology Fund, the American-based seed and early-stage fund who opened its first European fund in Enschede, is investing 1.6 million Euros in Clear Flight Solutions, a robotics drone spin-off company from the University of Twente. With this investment Clear Flight Solutions will focus on becoming worldwide market leader in bird control solutions with their lifelike robotic birds. Continue reading
Lifeguard Drones Tested in Chile
A company in Chile is hoping to use drones to save lives. Drones fitted with a float, camera, microphone and speaker are being tested on the beaches of Algarrobo to help lifeguards rescue distressed swimmers. Continue reading
Predator B Reaches One Million Flight Hours
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI),has announced that its Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper RPA fleet has achieved a historic milestone of one million cumulative flight hours, with almost 90-percent of all missions flown in combat.
VC Funding to Drones Tops $100M in 2014
According to CB Insights data, investment in 2014 to the nascent drone industry topped $108M across 29 deals. Year-over-year funding increased 104% as venture firms including Lightspeed Venture Partners, GGV Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers among others jumped into the drone space with sizable bets. Continue reading
CBP Unmanned Aircraft System Crews Disrupt Smuggling Attempts Worth $178 Million
Agents with the Office of Air and Marine (OAM) for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and interagency partners disrupted two separate drug smuggling attempts off the coast of El Salvador, resulting in the disruption of more than $178 million in contraband. Both events were part of Operation Martillo.
First of 10 Apache Units Adds 12 Shadow UAS
The first of 10 AH-64 Apache battalions to receive Shadow unmanned aerial systems will be reflagged today at Fort Bliss, Texas. The 1st Battalion, 501st Aviation Regiment will become 3rd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, making it the first Apache battalion to be converted to a heavy attack reconnaissance squadron.
Smart Parking Lot Using Quadcopter Network
Trying to find a parking spot in packed cities can be frustrating. But it inspired one UMass Dartmouth PhD senior with an idea that won him an international contest. Faced with the difficulty of parking his car in packed lots at Logan Airport and the Providence Place mall, Amir Ehsani Zonouz, 31, has come up with an award-winning solution — a Smart Parking Lot Using Quadcopter Network. Continue reading
DJI Will Hit $1Billion Sales in 2015
Over the last two years Da-Jiang Innovations, better known as DJI, has emerged as the world’s most popular consumer drone maker, at least by revenue. And The Verge has learned that the company is currently in talks with Silicon Valley’s top venture capital firms to potentially raise a new round of funding.