Airware

Last updated
Airware, Inc.
Industry UAV Systems
Founded2011
Headquarters San Francisco, California
Key people
Jonathan Downey (Founder) Yvonne Wassenaar (CEO)
Website Airware.com

Airware (incorporated as Unmanned Innovation, Inc.) was an American venture-funded startup that provided commercial unmanned aerial vehicles for enterprises. [1] The company ceased operations on September 14, 2018. [2] Airware's assets were acquired by Delair, a manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and an asset-management company based in Toulouse, France. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Airware was founded in 2011 in Newport Beach, California, by Jonathan Downey. [6] [7] The company relocated to San Francisco in January 2014. [8]

The company produced enterprise drones which combine hardware, on-aircraft, and mobile software, and cloud services. Downey has stated the company is focused on building systems for drones for commercial uses, including anti-poaching efforts, infrastructure inspections, and precision agriculture. [9]

History

Airware was founded by Downey in 2011 out of a frustration with the "inflexible and costly" autopilot systems for unmanned aircraft. [10]

Airware was incubated at both Lemnos Labs and Y Combinator. In March 2016, the company announced a $30 million Series C round of financing led by Next World Capital with Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Cisco Systems executive chairman John T. Chambers. [11] Andreessen Horowitz partner Martin Casado, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner Mike Abbott, and John T. Chambers are members of the company's board. [12] In 2015, Airware launched a new venture fund for commercial drones to support "scaling the use of drones across a variety of commercial applications." [13] [14] Airware purchased Redbird, a drone analytics software company, in 2016. [15] On September 14, 2018, Airware announced it was ceasing operations effective immediately. [2]

Products and services

Airware offered enterprise drone services combining hardware, on-aircraft and mobile software, and cloud services for industries like mining, insurance, and construction. [16] Airware offered navigation software for drones, table software to guide and monitors drones in flight, and cloud services to store and manage the information gathered by drones. [17] Where most software is designed for specific models of drones, Airware was developing a platform that enables compatibility across aircraft. [18] The company previously collaborated with commercial drone manufacturers to integrate its autopilot hardware and software, then consulted directly with enterprise clients to identify solutions and to ensure regulatory compliance. [12] [19] [20]

References

  1. ↑ "Company". Airware Inc. Archived from the original on 2013-05-27. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  2. 1 2 Constine, Josh (2018-09-14). "Drone startup Airware crashes, will shut down after burning $118M". TechCrunch . Archived from the original on 2025-09-24. Retrieved 2025-10-19.
  3. ↑ Marcellin, Frances (December 10, 2018). "Why working with Intel is helping Delair's drones fly into new markets". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 2019-03-31. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  4. ↑ "Delair launches c-drone data processing portal – The C-Drone Review". Archived from the original on 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  5. ↑ Mawad, Marie (2019-06-03). "Thanks to Drones, French Wine Tastes Better". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  6. ↑ "O.C. drone software firm raises $10.7 million". Orange County Register. 2013-05-16. Archived from the original on 2022-09-15. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  7. ↑ Dorbian, Iris (2013-05-15). "Airware Raises $10.7 Mln Round led by Andreessen Horowitz, Google Ventures". PE Hub. Archived from the original on 2022-09-15. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  8. ↑ Sablan, Kevin (22 December 2013). "O.C. drone company moving to Bay Area". Orange County Register . Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  9. ↑ "Rhino-Saving Drones Give Surveillance a Kinder Look". Bloomberg Businessweek . 2013-06-28. Archived from the original on 2017-03-14.
  10. ↑ Simonite, Tom (2016). "Innovators Under 35: Jonathan Downey". MIT Technology Review . Archived from the original on 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  11. ↑ Vanian, Jonathan (2016-03-31). "Cisco's John Chambers Just Invested In A Hot Drone Startup". Fortune . Archived from the original on 2016-04-03. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  12. 1 2 Mac, Ryan (2016-03-31). "Drone Startup Airware Raises $30 Million, Adds Cisco's John Chambers To Board". Forbes . Archived from the original on 2024-10-07. Retrieved 2025-10-19.
  13. ↑ Terdiman, Daniel (2015-05-27). "Drone OS Developer Airware Launches New Fund For Commercial Drones". Fast Company . Archived from the original on 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  14. ↑ Constine, Josh (2015-05-27). "Airware And DJI/Accel Launch Drone Investment Funds". TechCrunch . Archived from the original on 2017-03-15. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  15. ↑ Haggin, Patience (2016-09-22). "Commercial Drone Startup Airware Buys Drone Analytics Software Redbrid". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  16. ↑ "Forty Under 40: Jonathan Downey, Airware". San Francisco Business Times . 2017-03-09. Archived from the original on 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  17. ↑ Jansen, Bart (2015-12-15). "Airware CEO is Small Business Innovator of the year". USA Today .
  18. ↑ Jansen, Bart (2015-07-27). "Airware Navigates future of drones". USA Today . Archived from the original on 2022-10-12. Retrieved 2025-10-19.
  19. ↑ Haggin, Patience (2016-10-24). "Drone Startups Pivoting to Enterprise Services". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on 2017-03-11. Retrieved 2017-03-05.
  20. ↑ Haggin, Patience (2016-03-31). "Airware Takes Off With $30 Million for Commercial Drone Operating System". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2025-10-19.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.