TEL AVIV, ISRAEL--(Marketwired - Dec 8, 2016) - Dronomy, a software start-up focused on building knowledge into construction projects through analysis of data collected by drones, announced today it had secured funding from Mitsui Fudosan's corporate venture capital fund "31VENTURES Global Innovation Fund I", jointly operated by Global Brain Corporation.
The construction market is estimated by the World Economic Forum at almost $10 trillion, while drone-based solutions for the construction market are estimated by Goldman Sachs to accumulate to over $11 billion in the next five years. Construction companies, developers and sub-contractors are starting to realize the benefits of using unique technological solutions as part of their business processes to reduce ever-occurring project delays, cost overruns and disputes, which can account for a significant percentage of a project's overall costs. Dronomy captures unique and frequent project data using autonomous drones, and analyzes it into actionable information that is shared over the cloud to all relevant project stakeholders.
"We are proud to have Mitsui Fudosan, through its CVC arm 31VENTURES, among our investors," says Ori Aphek, Dronomy's CEO. "We are consistently receiving extraordinary feedback from customers who experience what our solution can do for them. This is now ratified by one of the world's largest players in our market. Our ability to make consumer drones fly low and close in construction sites, capture the right visual data, translate it into knowledge, and appropriately deliver this knowledge is what makes us different."
"It did not take us long to realize the outstanding business potential of Dronomy, which led us to making our first-ever investment in an Israeli technology company," explains Akira Sugawara, General Manager of 31VENTURES. "The construction market, its challenges and the opportunities it encapsulates are well known to us. We were impressed to see how Dronomy and its remarkable team understand and address these challenges."
This funding round will allow the company to launch its solution into international markets and to ramp-up its customer acquisition, starting in Q1 2017. The company's existing investors, including Battery Ventures, Lool Ventures and Oryzn Capital, have also participated this funding round.
For more information on Dronomy, visit www.dronomy.com.
For more information on 31 VENTURES, please visit www.31ventures.jp/en/
About Dronomy
Dronomy was founded by two physicists who were enthusiastic to make drones fly autonomously. The company has quickly identified the gap in the ability of construction companies to frequently and accurately monitor their construction sites. With Dronomy, mapping, monitoring, inspecting and sharing site details becomes part of the daily site routine. Construction companies can build knowledge into their projects and execute site monitoring missions so easily and safely that it becomes a daily routine, reducing costs and project delays. Dronomy is powered by a highly experienced and enthusiastic team with expertise in construction, drones, computer vision, software and 3D modeling, and is backed by top-notch VCs and private investors.
About Mitsui Fudosan's Venture Co-creation Department "31VENTURES"
Mitsui Fudosan is a leading real estate developer in Japan. Mitsui Fudosan has been accelerating its efforts in co-creation with startups for the ultimate goal to create new industries both to strengthen Mitsui Fudosan's business and to expand the scope of its operations. In April 2015, Mitsui Fudosan established the Venture Co-creation Department, 31VENTURES, to achieve co-creation of new industries together with startups by providing fully integrated venture capital services, "Finance," "Support" and "Community," for ambitious startups.
Contact Information:
Rebecca Buckman
Battery Ventures/for Dronomy
becky@battery.com