As the use of aircraft like drones, electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles and uncrewed aerial vehicles take off, Japanese startup Terra Drone wants to make sure trafficking the skies doesn't get overlooked.
Our airspace is going to get more crowded than ever, but most companies are concentrating only on hardware development.
Terra Drone develops drone software, hardware and uncrewed aircraft system traffic management solutions. The Series B round was led by Mitsui Corporation. The latest round, which brings its total funding raised to $83 million, comes approximately a year after raising $14.4 million Series A.
Other investors in the round include Venture Lab Investment and Tokyu Land Corporation.
The company will use the Series B to increase its headcount and fuel its global expansion into Europe, the U.S. and Southeast Asia, according to the COO of the company. The funds will be used to acquire companies in those regions.
The firm invested in Unifly in 2016 and acquired a Netherlands-based drone company, Terra Inspectioneering.
The startup says it will use the proceeds to support the development of Terra's UAM services, as well as its uncrewed aircraft system traffic management solutions.
When asked about its next plan after Series B, Terra Drone considers going public. The company could raise more money before its IPO.
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Oil and gas companies like Shell,Chevron and ExxonMobil are among the 500 customers of Terra Drone. The firm provides inspection and survey services to food companies and construction companies.
According to a report by Fortune Business Insights, the oil and gas industry invests $50.76 billion a year to monitor offshore and onshore pipes. Terra Drones can identify defects in structures. The market for drones is expected to grow to $476 million by the year 2028. According to Terra's IR deck, the global UAM market is projected to increase to 1.5 trillion by the year 2040.
TEPCO, Japan Airlines, KDDI, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport are just a few of the Japanese companies that Terra Drone is working on. The startup is working with the JAXA to coordinate crewed and uncrewed aircraft flight management.
Terra Drone is uncrewed traffic management.
The company's key specialization is its patented technology that allows the drone to press the Ultrasonic thickness probe against a surface without the scaffold to measure the thickness of walls.
A focus on increasing recurring revenue through the sale of survey-grade hardware and software such as Terra LiDAR and Terra LiDAR Cloud, and providing specialized services such as Ultrasonic thickness (UT) measurements and non-destructive testing using drones.
Sky-Futures, Cyberhawk and Malaysia's Aerodyne are drone companies. AirMap and YellowScan are also competitors, according to Seki.
Terra Drone has 60 employees, while its subsidiaries have 500.
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