Why we believe CyPhy is a singular drone company
We are excited to announce our investment in CyPhy Works, a drone platform with one-of-a-kind technology and team.
Yesterday, Cyphy launched a kickstarter campaign for LVL 1 that makes drone flying accessible to everyone through engineering advances and intuitive user experience.
As investors however, our diligence framework was geared towards the enterprise market. Here is why we believe they are uniquely positioned for success over other commercial drone solutions.
Market needs of enterprise drone solutions
After several conversations with large industrial companies, we started to see common themes emerge across multiple verticals. Beyond rugged hardware and ability to carry multiple payloads, solutions should have:
- Long flight times
- Secure transmission/storage of data with real time access
Challenges to building a good solution
The longest flight times we have seen thus far from other drone companies are about 20 minutes. This is an inherent limitation of using onboard battery packs. The weight vs. capacity (and hence the flight time) of the battery pack is an important tradeoff in the design of a drone. Longer flight times need bigger battery packs which weigh the drone down. Additionally, excess weight of the battery pack constrains the payloads that can be carried by the drone thus limiting data collection. Not to mention the different FAA regulatory framework for micro (less than 4 lbs) and small drones (less than 55 lbs).
The solution we often hear for limited flight time is automated charging through charging stations or battery swapping. But given the variety of environments that a drone could operate in — from urban construction to remote mining — it is hard to conceive the deployment and maintenance of single (or a network of) reliable charging stations or battery swapping mechanisms. Further, that does not fully solve the secure data collection and transmission piece.
Wait, what if we put a leash on the drone
Pun intended (if you haven’t been following, drones are landing in places where they shouldn’t be — The White House and Japan’s Prime Minister’s office).
Cyphy’s first solutions for enterprise are connected to a ground station with a microfilament that transmits power and data. This tether provides two solutions at the same time (without limiting the range of these drones):
- Unlimited flight time
- Secured high bandwidth data communications
Unlimited flying time is a game changer. Several startups claim efficiency gains for the enterprise by automating day or week long labor-intensive tasks to 10–15 minutes using a drone. But these gains are limited by the flight time. Imagine the same automation-enabled efficiency gains if the drone had day-long or week-long flying capabilities. This extended flying time additionally enables a whole new set of applications that needs continuous real time access to data (surveillance and labor safety for instance).
And there’s more — the ex-iRobot team
More than compelling technology, we haven’t met a drone startup founder with a more successful robotic systems building track record than Helen, the founder and CEO of CyPhy. Helen was a founder of iRobot and remained a chairman many years after its IPO. Building best in class products, creatively solving hard problems, scaling technologies while keeping costs manageable — she has done all of it before. Her unique ability to execute is something we have not seen in many other drone companies.
Unique technology that enables differentiated features like unlimited flying time, and a strong team, check and check. We at Draper Nexus are excited to work closely with Helen and her team to build a differentiated drone platform that has the answers for enterprise needs.
