Azur Drones consolidates its leadership and raises €8 million to accelerate its development

Mérignac, France, January 27, 2022 – After a 2021 marked by strong growth, especially abroad, Azur Drones has announced a new fundraising of nearly €8 million to support its development in 2022.

This fundraising, conducted with a French private investor, brings the total raised since 2016 to nearly €38 million. It should enable the French SME, leader in drone-in-a-box solutions, to consolidate its leadership.

Diversifying the uses of drone-in-a-box

Initially developed and deployed for surveillance applications, the Skeyetech solution is more and more solicited by industrials to carry out various types of missions to support their operations. It has been deployed for more than 2 years on critical sites of large industrial companies such as TotalEnergies, Orano, Port of Dunkerque,

Oiltanking and major players in the chemical industry.

With more than 20,000 autonomous flights and nearly 200 daily users, Skeyetech technology is now mature and proven from the Scandinavian coast to the desert of the United Arab Emirates.

To meet new customer needs, Azur Drones is now expanding the applications of its Skeyetech solution. In 2021, the company’s R&D teams developed a new photogrammetry functionality for a major player in the mining sector, as well as the first autonomous aerial solution for radioactivity detection. Named Skeyetech-DIZI, this solution is a worldwide exclusivity developed in collaboration with Avnir Energy and has been rewarded at the end of 2021 at the World Nuclear Exhibition Awards, a reference in the nuclear industry.

In 2022, Azur Drones intends to continue this diversification for the benefit of the industrial, energy and port sectors, with the launch of new solutions dedicated to industrial inspection and gas detection and quantification.

Accelerating international growth

Beyond our borders, Azur Drones has already deployed Skeyetech systems in Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The company intends to continue its international deployments thanks to new regulatory authorizations currently being obtained.

Finally, in 2022, growth should be driven by the structuring contracts put in place at the end of 2021, such as the framework agreement with the giant TotalEnergies and the distribution contract for 24 countries signed with the security leader G4S.

Continuing to structure the company

The fundraising will also enable the company to continue structuring itself in order to cope with the expected increase in deployments. Concerning production, Azur Drones has been developing for the past two years an industrial tool based on aeronautical quality processes unmatched in the resident drone sector.

Concerning customer support, the company is constantly innovating thanks to its investment in IoT technologies and its partnership with Microsoft. All of the company’s teams, processes and technologies are focused on customer satisfaction.
With nearly 15 new hires in 2021, Azur Drones currently has more than 65 employees accross its sites in Bordeaux-Mérignac (company headquarters, R&D and production center), Paris and Dubai. In order to support its 2022 ambitions, the company will continue to recruit to expand its sales, R&D, support and operations teams.

About Azur Drones

Azur Drones is one of the world leaders in drone-in-a-box solutions for surveillance and inspection. The company’s SKEYETECH system was developed to provide customers with a patented autonomous drone solution designed for sensitive sites security and operations support. Fully integrated into existing security systems,
SKEYETECH is operational 24/7 to carry out specific checks, perimeter patrols, inspection missions or assist in crisis situations. Skeyetech is today the most deployed autonomous drone system in the world with over 200 users and
20,000 operational flights.

Based in Bordeaux, Paris and Dubai, Azur Drones collaborates with well-established contractors in Europe and in the Middle East (TotalEnergies, Orano, Engie, Oiltanking, G4S, Port de Dunkerque…).