Autonomous Drone Developer Raises $67M, Gains FAA Approval

Autonomous drone startup Percepto has raised $67 million in its series C funding round, one month after it received Beyond Line of Sight (BVLOS) waiver from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The latest round was led by Koch Disruptive Technologies and brings the total investment in the drone company to more than $120 million.

Founded in Israel but now headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company is the first industrial drone company to receive a nationwide BVLOS waiver from the FAA. 

The waiver means Percepto will not need site-specific approval to deploy its autonomous drones in industrial settings, opening the door for significant company growth in the U.S. market. In addition, using these drones in areas of “critical infrastructure” will not require additional infrastructure.

The company’s drones are designed to automate maintenance inspections at industrial and utilities sites, monitoring for issues such as gas leaks, asset deterioration or other structural problems. 

Percepto currently has two drones in its pipeline, the Max and the Max OGI, as well as a cloud-based analytics platform to identify faults and monitor performance. 

The company has already received significant attention, with investors including Siemens Energy, Delek US and ICL Dead Sea Works.