Skyward, a software and services provider for commercial drones, announced today that it raised $4.1 million in its current round of funding. Verizon Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Draper Associates will contribute capital to expand Skyward’s engineering and product development team.
For drones to reach sustainable commercial integration and usability issues like logging, tracking, certifications, and insurance all have to be considered. Skyward’s software suite and professional services aim to provide these critical tasks and help legitimize the drone industry as a whole.
David Famolar, Director of Verizon Ventures, believes as much, “Just as Verizon provides critical infrastructure necessary to power mobile networking at scale, Skyward will provide the critical infrastructure needed to power the safe, compliant operation of commercial drones,” he said.
Skyward’s software features a robust record keeping system to keep track of pilot certification, flight tickets, battery power before and after operations, and other tools to ensure compliance with drone regulations globally.
Its services promises to walk companies through the regulation and exemption process, build a plan for safe and compliant commercial operation, and a streamlined insurance application process.
Skyward’s platform is manufacturer agnostic and will focus on establishing a sustainable information back-end for commercial drone use.
