PrecisionHawk, which at one level was one of many greatest drone business giants isn’t any extra. The corporate, recognized for utilizing drones to seize agricultural knowledge, filed for Chapter 7 chapter in mid-December 2023. Versus a Chapter 11 chapter, Chapter 7 chapter means PrecisionHawk will stop operations. The corporate may also shut down its headquarters in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina.
“The corporate didn’t have adequate capital to take care of operations,” Jason Hendren instructed the Information & Observer, a newspaper serving the Raleigh, North Carolina space. Hendren is a chapter lawyer in Raleigh who’s representing PrecisionHawk
Based on its chapter filings, the corporate owes $242,667 in unpaid lease on its headquarters. That debt is simply a tiny fraction of the $17.5 million price of debt it holds, in keeping with its chapter submitting. The corporate has simply round $3.8 million in property, which a court-appointed trustee will probably be accountable for utilizing to pay collectors. Although, unsecured collectors ought to anticipate to get nothing out of the submitting,
Many of the firm’s staff have posted “Open to Work” badges on their LinkedIn profiles.
A historical past of PrecisionHawk
It’s been a tumultuous yr for the corporate, which at one level was among the many darlings of the drone business. Based in 2010, it touted purchasers together with 5 of the highest 10 utility corporations, the most important supplier of communications infrastructure in the US, and the “Huge Six” suppliers of seed and agricultural chemical substances.
By its historical past. PrecisionHawk made some pivots to its enterprise mannequin. It initially leaned into being a drone producer, earlier than later specializing in drones for distant sensing purposes and knowledge processing. It centered on enterprise use instances equivalent to agriculture, power, photo voltaic, oil & gasoline, and telecom.
And it had scored some sturdy wins, notably when DJI introduced it might drop PrecisionHawk-competitor AirMap and substitute it with PrecisionHawk as its new supplier of airspace knowledge in North America. With that 2018 change, PrecisionHawk grew to become the geofencing know-how supplier behind DJI’s drones. Drone geofencing is a know-how pioneered by DJI that creates a digital “fence” round areas the place it doesn’t need its drones flying, equivalent to close to airports.
It additionally had vital authorities affect. For instance, then-CEO Michael Chasen served because the Chairman for the FAA’s Drone Advisory Committee (DAC).
Throughout its Sequence A by E funding rounds, PrecisionHawk raised greater than $136 million. That included $10 million from Intel Capital in it collection B, and a hefty $32 million collection E in 2019. The yr prior, it raised a fair larger $75 million.
However particularly previously yr, it’s develop into clear that PrecisionHawk was having bother. Most of that new got here to gentle shortly after Norway-based UAV inspection and mapping firm Discipline acquired PrecisionHawk in March 2023.
On the time, Discipline noticed the PrecisionHawk acquisition as a possibility to broaden to the U.S. market. Discipline acknowledged that it might use PrecisionHawk’s synthetic intelligence and drone know-how firm for infrastructure administration with its purchasers, which included a number of Fortune 500 corporations. In a March 2023 press launch sharing information of the acquisition, the corporate acknowledged that PrecisionHawk would preserve its Raleigh headquarters and function beneath the Discipline model by the tip of the yr.
As a substitute, Discipline introduced in October 2023 that it might shut the PrecisionHawk workplace in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“We knew it might be a problem to make PrecisionHawk worthwhile within the quick time period,” mentioned Krister A. Pedersen, who stepped in as interim CEO of Discipline in September 2023 after former CEO Cato Vevatne stepped down. “Regardless of our greatest efforts, we couldn’t flip it round in time, and we have now needed to shut the workplace.”
What’s subsequent for PrecisionHawk and what is going to fill its void?
As for what’s subsequent for PrecisionHawk, the Assembly of Collectors is about for Jan. 24, 2024. Discipline Group, which acquired PrecisionHawk, in itself will probably be beginning considerably anew in 2024. That features new possession after being acquired by current shareholders.
Whereas sure traders will purchase Discipline Group’s conventional enterprise, former Discipline Board Chair Arild Austigard and companions are set to amass Discipline Group’s drone exercise. With that main change comes a full refinancing of the enterprise in a brand new firm construction.
Discipline’s UAV division will proceed engaged on unmanned know-how and inspection companies. Although, they may function beneath a brand new entity and a brand new model.
“I’m happy that we have now discovered an answer for Discipline Group the place we are able to take over the possession of the drone actions within the firm,” Austigard mentioned in a ready assertion. “Using drones is a part of the long run resolution that each ensures environment friendly options and the environmental challenges we face, and the staff in Discipline Group working within the drone enterprise have what it takes to achieve the long run.”
So far as what different corporations would possibly fill the void set by the tip of PrecisionHawk? Different corporations that provide comparable companies to PrecisionHawk embrace San Francisco-based DroneDeploy, which builds software program to automate flight and knowledge seize. With DroneDeploy, customers generate interactive maps, orthomosaics and 3D fashions.