Percepto, a developer of autonomous inspection and monitoring solutions, has announced a combined US$67m (£53m) Series C funding round.
The drone developer recently received a nationwide Beyond Line of Sight (BVLOS) waiver from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), which allows the company to provide any US critical infrastructure site with remotely-operated automated drones without the need for the FAA’s specific site approvals.
The company sees this waiver as removing logistical and cost barriers to the adoption of autonomous drone technology.
“KDT’s reinvestment underlines their confidence in our ability to make companies more profitable by keeping infrastructure operational in the face of the unpredictable,” said Dor Abuhasira, co-founder and CEO of Percepto.
“Organisations are increasingly discovering the benefits of autonomous and remote drone operations to automate facility inspections and data analysis across their sites.
“With this new round of funding, new strategic investors, and the new regulations that significantly increase the access to using autonomous drones, the conditions are ripe for the autonomous drone market to expand, and for Percepto to meet the growing demand for automated drone inspections and monitoring at industrial sites.”
Heavy industry players face significant challenges to maintaining reliable critical infrastructure, meeting high productivity expectations and maintaining worker safety in the context of complex, hazardous and often ageing infrastructure assets.
Percepto’s solutions are designed to address these challenges by providing industrial companies with real-time visibility into their facility’s infrastructure integrity and detecting failures before they escalate into incidents.
“Percepto is a powerful force in boosting the accessibility of automated drones for industrial inspection and monitoring,” said Chase Koch, founder and CEO of Koch Disruptive Technologies.
“Having deployed Percepto’s technology across various Koch companies, we are experiencing first-hand how its innovative R&D improves inspection and monitoring.
“Their work to create a clear regulatory path for this technology puts it in a strong market position, firmly stationed at the forefront of the industry. We look forward to continuing our journey with Percepto as it sets the new standard for making industrial operations safe, efficient and sustainable.”
Percepto Autonomous Inspection & Monitoring (AIM), the company’s end-to-end visual inspection solution, automates the whole of the visual inspection workflow, from data collection to analysis and insights.
According to the company, with Percepto AIM, problems like gas leaks, overheating and infrastructure deterioration can be identified more quickly, enabling companies to take preventative measures and making sites more productive by reducing the risk of environmental and safety incidents.
The round was led by Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), as well as new investor Zimmer Partners, and included participation from existing investors U.S. Venture Partners, Delek US Holdings, Atento Capital, Spider Capital and Arkin Holdings.
