A Raleigh company that collects and analyzes data collected by drones has raised $10 million in funding to keep pace with its expanding business.
PrecisionHawk, founded in 2010, announced Thursday that it would use the money for, among other things, doubling its work force. Today PrecisionHawk has 45 employees, including 10 in Raleigh.
“This funding is going to allow us to scale up and keep up with the orders we’ve been receiving,” said spokeswoman Lia Reich.
The privately held company doesn’t disclose revenue numbers but says it has more than 50 customers, including some Fortune 500 companies.
PrecisionHawk’s unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, employ more than 15 sensors plus cloud-based software that collect and analyze visual, thermal, spectral and depth-related data.
The company has offices in Raleigh, Indianapolis and Toronto and plans to open a new office in Texas in conjunction with Texas A&M University.
The new round of funding was led by Millennium Technology Value Partners, a New York venture capital firm. Prior investors also participating in the funding, including Bob Young, the co-founder of Red Hat and founder and CEO of Lulu.com.
PrecisionHawk previously raised $1 million from outside investors.
Currently, the FAA limits the use of drones to research purposes and certain institutions and UAV test sites. PrecisionHawk has met that criteria by teaming up with several universities as well as a UAV test site in New York.
