Airware
American commercial UAV manufacturer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Airware (incorporated as Unmanned Innovation, Inc.) was an American venture-funded startup that provided commercial unmanned aerial vehicles for enterprises.[1] The company ceased operations on September 14, 2018.[2] Airware's assets were acquired by Delair, a manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and an asset-management company based in Toulouse, France.[3][4][5]
 | |
| Industry | UAV Systems |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2011 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California |
Key people | Jonathan Downey (Founder) Yvonne Wassenaar (CEO) |
| Website | Airware.com |
Airware was founded in 2011 in Newport Beach, California, by Jonathan Downey.[6][7] The company relocated to San Francisco in January 2014.[8]
The company produced enterprise drones which combine hardware, on-aircraft, and mobile software, and cloud services. Downey has stated the company is focused on building systems for drones for commercial uses, including anti-poaching efforts, infrastructure inspections, and precision agriculture.[9]
History
Airware was founded by Downey in 2011 out of a frustration with the "inflexible and costly" autopilot systems for unmanned aircraft.[10]
Airware was incubated at both Lemnos Labs and Y Combinator. In March 2016, the company announced a $30 million Series C round of financing led by Next World Capital with Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Cisco Systems executive chairman John T. Chambers.[11] Andreessen Horowitz partner Martin Casado, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner Mike Abbott, and John T. Chambers are members of the company's board.[12] In 2015, Airware launched a new venture fund for commercial drones to support "scaling the use of drones across a variety of commercial applications."[13][14] Airware purchased Redbird, a drone analytics software company, in 2016.[15] On September 14, 2018, Airware announced it was ceasing operations effective immediately.[2]
Products and services
Airware offered enterprise drone services combining hardware, on-aircraft and mobile software, and cloud services for industries like mining, insurance, and construction.[16] Airware offered navigation software for drones, table software to guide and monitors drones in flight, and cloud services to store and manage the information gathered by drones.[17] Where most software is designed for specific models of drones, Airware was developing a platform that enables compatibility across aircraft.[18] The company previously collaborated with commercial drone manufacturers to integrate its autopilot hardware and software, then consulted directly with enterprise clients to identify solutions and to ensure regulatory compliance.[12][19][20]