{"id":3259,"date":"2017-02-02T17:39:21","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T17:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/caterpillar-invests-in-airware-bringing-drone-tech-to-mining-and-construction-enterprises.html"},"modified":"2017-02-02T17:39:21","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T17:39:21","slug":"caterpillar-invests-in-airware-bringing-drone-tech-to-mining-and-construction-enterprises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/caterpillar-invests-in-airware-bringing-drone-tech-to-mining-and-construction-enterprises.html","title":{"rendered":"Caterpillar invests in Airware bringing drone tech to mining and construction enterprises"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The venture arm of Caterpillar Inc.,<\/a> a major\u00a0manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, has invested in San Francisco drone tech startup Airware<\/a>. Rather than make its own unmanned aerial vehicles, Airware has focused its efforts around providing software and services that help large enterprises use drones throughout their operations.<\/p>\n

Airware\u2019s\u00a0cloud-based software\u00a0helps companies plan\u00a0flights, automate those\u00a0as much as possible, then analyze all the\u00a0data their drones collect. In putting\u00a0drones to work, large construction, mining and insurance companies generally seek to\u00a0cut costs, improve worker safety or increase their revenue and productivity.<\/p>\n

The founder and CEO of Airware, Jonathan Downey, tells TechCrunch that the company has narrowed its focus from many industries to just a few: insurance, construction and mining. \u201cThese are industries where there\u2019s already a real use case, and economic feasibility for employing drones commercially at scale,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He offered a few examples of how these business are using Airware today. Insurance companies use the company\u2019s\u00a0drone tech\u00a0to inspect rooftops for damage, or to analyze the flood plains around a building. Mining companies use it\u00a0to\u00a0track\u00a0how much material is coming from a\u00a0quarry, moving to a\u00a0stockpile, and getting\u00a0out to customers\u2013 all without having to send workers scrambling to the top of a stockpile with heavy sensors. In\u00a0construction,\u00a0Airware helps developers create site maps, conduct pre-site inspections and monitor the progress and safety of a given build.<\/p>\n

Caterpillar Ventures<\/a> invested in\u00a0Airware\u00a0as part of the company\u2019s last round of funding<\/a> in 2016, Downey said. Airware has raised around $90 million in equity funding to-date, the company said. Downey\u00a0declined to disclose specific terms of the deal, including whether or not Caterpillar\u2019s involvement may preclude Airware\u00a0from\u00a0working with other heavy equipment makers.<\/p>\n

According to a press statement, Caterpillar is working with Airware to offer drone services to its own customers, and to enable\u00a0large dealers of the company\u2019s equipment to also offer drone services to their customers. Caterpillar Ventures\u2019 partners were not available for\u00a0comment.\u00a0Earlier backers of Airware included Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, GE Ventures, Google Ventures (GV),\u00a0Intel Capital, John Chambers, KPCB and Next World Capital.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a quest to bring drone tech to large enterprises,\u00a0Airware\u2019s U.S. competition includes other venture backed startups like\u00a0PrecisionHawk and Kespry, and others globally. A\u00a0tight relationship with Caterpillar, which is based in Illinois but has worldwide distribution of its equipment, will undoubtedly help Airware win customers beyond the US.<\/p>\n

Of a $100 billion market for drone tech overall, including military and consumer drones, Goldman Sachs<\/a> forecasts $13 billion in spending between 2016 and 2020\u00a0on drones in commercial and civil sectors.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunchIt\/~3\/gR5qAjR_qsE\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The venture arm of Caterpillar Inc., a major\u00a0manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, has invested in San Francisco drone tech startup Airware. Rather than make its own unmanned aerial vehicles, <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[19],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-3259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-enterprise-software","tag-enterprise"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t