Mapping startup DroneDeploy takes to Australian skies in a bid to help save the Great Barrier Reef

Drone mapping startup DroneDeploy is on a mission to improve the world from the air, and in Australia, that begins with the Great Barrier Reef.

Founded in 2013 by best friends Mike Wills, Nick Pilkington and Jono Millin, DroneDeploy began life in the AngelPad seed-stage accelerator program in San Francisco.

It provides drone mapping software, and now has one of the largest drone data sets in the world, and 110 employees.

In June 2018, the startup raised US$25 million ($34 million) in Series C funding, led by Invenergy Future Fund, the largest independent green energy firm in the US.

The round also included Aussie VC firm AirTree, along with existing investors Scale Venture Partners, Uncorked Capital and Emergence Capital.

The idea for the startup came about when chief executive Mike Wills was working with nature parks in his native South Africa.

“Poaching is a massive problem there, in particular rhinoceros. I’ve been flying helicopters and drones for over a decade and knew they could solve the problem,” Wills tells StartupSmart.

As he began to look into the issue, he discovered the hardware wasn’t the issue. Read more

Samantha Murphy - Startup Smart - 26 Nov 2018