Reading-based drone management platform Altitude Angel has secured $4.5m in Series A funding.
The company’s round was led by the Seraphim Space Fund, a £67m tech investment vehicle.
ADV and Frenquentis AG also participated in the startup’s financing round.
With the money, Altitude Angel wants to bring its purpose-built GuardianUTM platform for U-Space and Unmanned Aircraft Traffic Management (UTM) into new territories.
The firm will also use the cash to expand its commercial and engineering presence with new offices in Europe and North America.
“Drones have the power to revolutionise business and transform lives,” said Altitude Angel founder and CEO Richard Parker.
“We’re at the start of an aerial revolution that’s driven by low-cost drone hardware. Altitude Angel’s technologies are key to unlocking their potential to be flown autonomously, without a human pilot, ensuring they’re safe and fit in with other aviation traffic and stakeholders,” he added.
Altitude Angel was founded in 2014 and employs a growing team of software engineers and dedicated aviation experts.
Recent hires include Michael Gadd, who joined the firm as head of international regulatory affairs from the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, where he was policy lead for UAS.
James Bruegger, managing partner at Seraphim who led the transaction, commented: “As a specialist fund focused on space-tech, we see drones as forming an important element in the wider space-tech ecosystem. Much like air traffic control became a necessary precondition for commercial aviation to flourish, so too do we see unmanned traffic management (UTM) as a fundamental building block that holds the key to unlocking the enormous potential of the commercial drone market.
“In Altitude Angel we’ve identified what we believe to be best-of-breed technology capable of meeting the stringent safety-critical standards that regulators will demand in order for autonomous drones to be fully integrated into commercial airspace. We look forward to working alongside Richard and the wider Altitude Angel team to help the company deliver on its tremendous potential,” he added.
Mike Dimelow, chief investment officer at ADV, went on to note: “Altitude Angel is a solution that allows unmanned flying machines to operate. By getting this right, we’re going to create new industries and business models that we can’t even imagine today. The management team and industry partners supporting the business have the potential to create a generation-defining business. We’re very excited for the future.”
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