Let’s Talk Drones

5 min readFeb 1, 2024

There is plenty of buzz surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) these days. This article focuses on a different type of buzz (literally). Drones (also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle “UAV”) are quickly becoming the worker bees of climate tech.

Drones have been around since World War I initially as radio-controlled versions, previously referred to as Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPV). Drones are part of Unmanned-Aircraft Vehicle Systems (UAVS) which include ground control, data links and support equipment. Early models had catchy names such as the “The Queen Bee” (De Havilland DH82B Queen Bee) and “The Queen Wasp” (Airspeed AS.30 Queen Wasp). Similar to other hard technologies, most early use cases for drones were primarily for military and defense applications. Readers may have heard of the versions such as Predator and Reaper drones used in combat. While drones may have an interesting history, in this article we want to highlight their increasing importance in attacking a common planetary foe, the climate crisis.

Modern, full-stack drones offer impactful solutions across many high-emitting, large sectors including energy, mining, construction (built environment), and agriculture among others. They can drive massive increases in efficiency and decreases in costs. Drone technology has benefitted from Moore’s Law style improvements as costs decline, products miniaturize while performance increases. These improvements are coming from converging advancements in battery technology (energy density), imaging technology (visual, thermal, LiDAR), and software and artificial intelligence (AI) development. Sticking with our bee theme, technologists are leveraging AI to operate drones in “swarms” and using automated docking and charging stations as “hives.”

Many consumers are familiar with quadcopter drones although other variants exist such as fixed wing products which are suitable for alternate use cases and deployments. Drones are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration which is evolving with the technology and new airspace demands.

While there is plenty of interest in chasing climate-related software deals among specialists and generalists, we live in a physical world facing increasingly devasting physical disasters. This is where drones come in. Companies using tech-enabled drones are a unique fusion of physical assets with digital. Talented engineers are capturing real-time data with drones and combining it with outside data sources like spatial data to generate analytics, 3D models, and actionable insights to solve real-world climate issues. We continue to see drones outfitted with modern sensors and integrated with AI-powered software capable of performing previously unimaginable tasks. The use cases for these electric bees can be quite broad and tackle the more difficult climate challenges we currently face. We are particularly impressed with the scalable, impactful climate solutions offered by tech-enabled drones.

For context, we list a few promising companies deploying drones for climate and sustainability purposes:

Zeitview (previously DroneBase) — Advanced inspection of energy and infrastructure assets
Infravision AI — Automated power line construction to increase grid capacity, mitigate risk, and lower costs
Mast Reforestation (previously DroneSeed + Silvaseed) — Tech-led reforestation with aerial (drone) seeding services

At FW Partners we love our real bees too, but that’s a topic for a future article.

John Scanio, Managing Director — Investments

Last year, the FAA released an brief article 7 Ways That Drones Foster Sustainability that highlights common use cases such as management of plant and animal diseases, wildlife conservation, wildfire management, and inspections. (Federal Aviation Administration)

We highlighted a few companies providing innovative sustainable solutions leveraging drone technology. There are many interesting companies in this space to cover. More broadly, we continue to view drones along with advanced robotics and AI-powered software as scalable tools in addressing numerous climate issues.

For those stuck indoors this summer suffering through the heatwave, there is a Netflix documentary that primarily touches on robotics for military application and includes an interview a group working on drone “swarms.”

This newsletter is intended solely for informational purposes, and should not be construed as investment/trading advice and are not meant to be a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any securities mentioned. Any reproduction or distribution of this document, in whole or in part, or the disclosure of its contents, without the prior written consent of Flat World Partners is prohibited

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