The drone industry is rapidly growing, and DroneDeploy wants to help developers be a part of that movement. The cloud-based drone software provider launched the DroneDeploy App Market at its inaugural DroneDeploy Conference today.
According to Mike Winn, CEO of DroneDeploy, this is the first drone marketplace for the industry. The new app store not only allows developers to develop solutions on top of DroneDeploy’s software, but it will allow them to monetize those solutions.
“The drone industry is really interesting because for the first time any person can capture a bird’s eye view of the space they care about, and they can do it with a lot of ease,” said Winn.
“The drone economy is growing massively,” added Darr Gerscovich, senior vice president of marketing for DroneDeploy. “We are just at the tip of the iceberg. It is going to touch all parts of society, and as it grows and businesses are created, more and more people are going to want to join that drone economy. This becomes a way to incorporate developers in the rapidly growing economy.”
Winn explains that for developers to build a solution they need a way to connect to data and process that data as well as access to customers. With DroneDeploy, developers can leverage technology and a large dataset that is already in place. DroneDeploy is offering a JavaScript API developers can use to access the company’s technology stack and build on top of.
The marketplace will hold developers to a minimum bar of quality, and ensure apps distributed across the store provide value in a secure fashion by protecting users? data. Pricing models for apps will vary upon the app.
The app store already features more than 15 apps, including file sharing with Box and MyJohnDeere, exporting data to Autodesk, 3D printing drone maps with Whiteclouds, and getting on-demand flight insurance with Verifly. “As a daily user of DroneDeploy for aerial imagery, I’m very excited to see the launch of the app store and all the new applications,” said Shelly Engel, co-owner of Bon Air Drone. “Their customizable platform is a real game-changer in the drone industry.”
In addition to developers, Gerscovich believes the app store will be able to bring faster innovation to users and more choice in the solutions they select. “We aren”T trying to build it all ourselves. We are looking for app developers that are experts within their domain to bring applications to market,” he said.
“Instead of having a single offering our users…we will have now over half a dozen options, and our users themselves will be able to select what is the right choice for them.
