[Funding alert] Indo-US aerial robotics startup FlytBase raises seed round

Silicon Valley and India-based FlytBase, which powers fully autonomous drone fleets for global businesses, recently closed its seed round of venture financing. 

The round was led by a US-based, early-stage seed fund, and brings not only venture capital, but also a wealth of professional experience and world-class B2B networks to the table, the startup said.

Nitin Gupta, CEO, FlytBase, said,

“We have been fortunate to have support from leading incubators and angel investors since our inception. With the most recent round, we now can rapidly build upon our unique competitive position in the global drone ecosystem.”

The seed funding comes as the company gains traction for its commercial drone automation software, with a focus on high-value enterprise use-cases such as warehouse inventory management, wind turbine inspection, live remote drone operations, and public safety.

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FlytBase is an enterprise drone automation company with software that enables deployment of intelligent, fully autonomous fleets. The startup claims iIts FlytOS and FlytCloud software offerings is compatible with all major drone and hardware platforms. With IoT architecture and enterprise-grade scalability, the platform suits a variety of commercial drone use-cases, powered by control systems, robotics, computer vision, and AI/ML technologies.

“Our ability to combine intelligent software with off-the-shelf and cost-effective drones positions us well with enterprise customers, as they mature their drone adoption from PoCs and pilots to fully autonomous, multi-site drone operations,” Gupta added.

FlytBase’s R&D lab is in Pune, India, at the Bhau Institute, a leading engineering startup incubator. 

According to the startup, the commercial drone market continues to accelerate worldwide - with indoor applications likely to lead the way, while the security and privacy regulations for outdoor use of drones get developed by aviation authorities across the world. 

For example, IAG Cargo, part of the same group that owns British Airways, recently highlighted its use of fully autonomous drones for scanning inventory at its air cargo facility - an innovation in warehouse inventory management powered by FlytBase technology, the company said in a release. 

Sharvashish Das, Director of Engineering, added,

“With an IoT architecture, intelligent plugins, and open APIs, our technology platform brings a variety of capabilities to drones - ranging from indoor autonomous navigation and obstacle avoidance to precision landing and autonomous charging.”

Note: FlytBase (previously known as NavStik) was part of YourStory Tech30 2016.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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