According to a TechCrunch exclusive, Airspace Systems has secured $20 million in a Series A funding round. The round of funding was led by Singtel Innov8 with s28 Capital, Shasta Ventures and Granite Hill Capital Partners also participating. The startup had previously raised $5 million in funding, bringing their funding total to $25 million.
Airspace Systems has built what it calls “kinetic capture” technologies, which currently consists of a ground-based system that identifies a malicious unmanned aircraft, then launches a drone to pursue and capture the suspect drone with a tethered net.
The company has shifted attention from simply launching nets to building drone-focused autonomous systems that will allow their systems to track down other drones on their own. The company says that more than two-thirds of its 32 employees are currently working on technologies related to autonomous drone flight.
Just last week, the White House announced it was drafting legislation that would give federal law enforcement agencies the authority to disrupt or destroy hostile drones in U.S. airspace. Drone regulations and legislation have been slow to catch up with the rapidly advancing technologies of the drone industry. Airspace’s CEO Jaz Banga is on the FAA’s Drone Advisory Committee alongside representatives from companies like DJI, Amazon, and Facebook.
“Demand for protecting stadiums, commercial buildings, power plants and, for that matter, any other public venues from potential drone threats is growing rapidly,” Singtel Innov8 managing director Jeff Karras said in a statement.