CEBU, Philippines -- Malaysia-based drone solutions provider Aerodyne Group has raised $30 million in a Series B funding round co-led by InterVest and Kejora Ventures to ramp up global expansion.
In a statement, Aerodyne said that VentureTECH, Gobi Partners and 500 Startups participated in the funding round, which was closed nearly 20 months after the startup raised a double-digit million-dollar sum from Axiata Digital Innovation Fund.
Aerodyne has offices in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and the U.K. Part of the fresh funding will go toward its expansion into key global markets such as Japan, India, the U.S. and the Middle East.
The proceeds will also be used in mergers and acquisitions, further investment in research and development and technology, and to hire talent globally, the company said.
Goldman Sachs Research estimated that market opportunity for drones is likely to hit $100 billion by 2020, helped by growing demand from the commercial and government sectors.
The defence drone market is expected to reach $70 billion while the consumer drone market is forecast to grow to $17 billion by 2020.
Launched in 2014, Aerodyne uses artificial intelligence to capture data and for analytics. It delivers solutions to the oil and gas, telecom, renewables, construction, agriculture and infrastructure industries.
"The drone industry has been developing at breakneck speed, but Aerodyne has found the right balance between advancement of technology and meeting client needs," said InterVest CEO CH Woo in a statement.
Last year, Aerodyne bought a 60% stake in AtSite, a Denmark-based wind turbine blade inspection company, for 10.6 million ringgit ($2.7 million). Kamarul had earlier said that the acquisition allowed Aerodyne to tap into the growing wind energy market as more countries explore renewable energy.
DealStreetAsia is a financial news site based in Singapore focused on corporate investment activity in Southeast Asia and India. Nikkei recently acquired a majority stake in the company.
