Terra Drone, the world's largest industrial drone solution provider, has completed a Series B financing of 8 billion yen
Terra Drone Corporation, a Japanese drone and urban air traffic (UAM) technology company, announced the completion of a Series B financing of 8 billion yen (approximately 70 million US dollars). Led by Mitsui&Co., with follow-up investments from SBI Investment, Tokyu Land Corporation, Kushu Electric Power, Seika Corporation, JOIN (Japan Overseas Transportation and Urban Development Infrastructure Investment Corporation), Venture Lab Investment, and others.
This round of financing will be used to increase the number of employees and drive its global expansion in Europe, the United States, and Southeast Asia. In addition, it may also be used to acquire drone service providers in these regions. It is reported that Terra Drone invested in Belgian drone company Unifly in 2016 and acquired Dutch drone company Terra Inspectioneering in 2018.
Terra Drone was founded in 2016 and is a leading drone and urban air traffic (UAM) technology company that provides drone hardware and cloud based software products for industrial testing, such as Terra Lidar and ultrasonic non-destructive thickness measurement. Terra Drone has offices throughout Japan, headquartered in Tokyo, with overseas operations mainly distributed in Europe and Southeast Asia. According to the "2020 Global Drone Service Companies" list released by Drone Industry Insights, a global drone market research firm, Terra Drone ranks first in the world.
As the world's largest industrial drone solution provider, Terra Drone's products and services have been implemented in industries such as construction, utilities, mining, oil and gas around the world. Currently, Terra Drone has approximately 500 clients, including oil and gas companies such as Shell, Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Vopak, and Japan's Inpex Corporation, as well as chemical companies such as BASF and Kansai Electric Power. It also provides inspection services to food company Bunge.
Terra Drone's products can identify pipeline defects such as structural corrosion, coating failure, and any other structural damage. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global oil and gas industry spends approximately $50.76 billion annually on onshore and offshore pipeline safety inspections.
By 2040, the global UAM market is expected to reach a size of $1.5 trillion.
Toru Tokushige, founder and CEO of Terra Drone, said, "With the use of drones, electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, and unmanned aerial vehicles, our airspace is becoming more congested than ever before. However, today most companies are only focused on hardware development, and we urgently need a global air traffic management solution to achieve safe and efficient drone and UAM operations. Terra Drone's goal is to become a leader in building digital infrastructure for the air
Based on this, Terra Drone has been collaborating with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to coordinate the flight management of manned and unmanned aircraft. It is reported that Terra Drone has received partial patent technology transfer from JAXA in the fields of drones and UAM. In addition, Terra Drone is collaborating with multiple Japanese companies and governments, including Tokyo Electric Power Company, Japan Airlines, KDDI, Japan's leading telecommunications company Inpex, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Terra Drone's global competitors include Sky Futures and CyberHawk from the UK, Aerodyne from Malaysia, and YellowScan, a French developer of drone LiDAR systems.
