For years, commercial drones were largely considered sophisticated and costly playthings. However, their utility in industrial, military, and enterprise applications has demonstrated a genuine market for unmanned aerial vehicles. Today, a company developing drones for these sectors is announcing a substantial funding round and a collaboration that illustrates the future trajectory of the drone industry.

Percepto, a provider of both the drone hardware and the associated software, focuses on the monitoring and analysis of industrial locations and other work environments with limited human presence. The company has secured $45 million in a Series B funding round.

In addition to this investment, Percepto is now collaborating with Boston Dynamics, integrating its Spot robots with Percepto’s Sparrow drones. The goal is to enhance infrastructure evaluations and potentially expand capabilities as Spot’s maneuverability improves.

Koch Disruptive Technologies, the investment division of industrial conglomerate Koch Industries (with holdings in energy, minerals, chemicals, and related fields), is leading the funding round. Additional participation comes from new investors State of Mind Ventures, Atento Capital, Summit Peak Investments, and Delek-US. Existing investors U.S. Venture Partners, Spider Capital, and Arkin Holdings are also contributing. (Reports indicate that Boston Dynamics and SoftBank are not involved in this particular investment.)

Based in Israel, Percepto has raised a total of $72.5 million since its establishment in 2014. While the company is not disclosing its valuation, CEO and founder Dor Abuhasira characterized the round as “a very good round.”

“This funding empowers us to establish ourselves as a category leader,” Abuhasira stated in an interview. The company currently serves customers in approximately 10 countries, including ENEL, Florida Power and Light, and Verizon.

While some drone manufacturers concentrate on hardware development, and others specialize in the analytics, computer vision, and other essential software technologies required for safe and effective drone operation, Percepto has adopted what has been described, and Abuhasira confirmed, as an “Apple-like” strategy: comprehensive vertical integration to the extent possible.

This approach has involved recruiting teams with expertise in artificial intelligence, computer vision, navigation, and analytics, as well as specialists in industrial hardware – all areas of strength within Israel’s technology sector, due to its close ties with military investments. (It is worth noting that Percepto currently sources its chips from Nvidia, as confirmed by Abuhasira.)

“The vertical integration model is the only viable path for drones,” he explained. “Approaches resembling the Android ecosystem introduce vulnerabilities in the overall workflow.”

The company markets its offering as a “drone-in-a-box” solution, simplifying setup and operation for customers. This also describes the system’s functionality: drones depart the box for data collection flights and then return to recharge and transmit information, alongside real-time data capture.

These drones operate on demand, performing routine monitoring to identify potential issues and responding to specific data requests from engineers. Percepto brands its product as “AIM,” an acronym for autonomous site inspection and monitoring.

Recent news highlighted Amazon’s restructuring of its Prime Air program – an indication that certain consumer-focused drone applications may face continued challenges before achieving commercial viability. Percepto’s business model differs significantly, focusing on data collection in areas devoid of human presence.

This aligns with a broader industry trend toward automation and the resulting efficiencies and cost reductions, which are central to the current focus on “digital transformation.”

“We are confident that Percepto AIM addresses a substantial multi-billion-dollar challenge across numerous industries and will revolutionize the management of manufacturing facilities in the IoT and Industry 4.0 landscape,” said Chase Koch, president of Koch Disruptive Technologies, in a statement. “Percepto’s accomplishments in autonomous technology and data analytics are impressive, and we believe it is uniquely positioned to deliver the remote operations center of the future. We are excited to collaborate with the Percepto team to realize this vision.”

The partnership with Boston Dynamics is significant for several reasons: it demonstrates how diverse robotic hardware will collaborate in an automated, unmanned environment, and it signals a positive shift for Boston Dynamics.

The company has been a prominent force in robotics for years, particularly with its agile and robust dog-like robots (such as “Spot” and “Big Dog”) capable of navigating challenging terrain and withstanding impacts.

This led to its acquisition by Google in 2013 as part of its ambitious “moonshot” projects. However, this venture did not result in a viable business and potentially created public relations challenges for Google. Subsequently, SoftBank acquired Boston Dynamics along with other robotics assets in 2017. This also appears to have stalled, and reports this month indicated that Boston Dynamics was attracting interest from Hyundai.

These developments suggest that strategic partnerships with thriving companies like Percepto represent a promising path for Boston Dynamics to capitalize on its substantial research and development investments.

While Percepto has prioritized its own vertical integration, there is a growing argument for increased interoperability and collaboration among companies developing “connected” and intelligent hardware for industrial and physical applications.

This would allow specific industries to concentrate on specialized equipment and expertise while leveraging best-in-class hardware and software solutions. Abuhasira anticipates that the Boston Dynamics partnership will be the first of many such collaborations.

This initial partnership serves as a compelling model. It will involve Spot carrying Percepto’s payloads for high-resolution imaging and thermal vision “to identify issues such as hot spots on machinery or electrical conductors, water and steam leaks around plants, and equipment exhibiting diminished performance, with the data transmitted via AIM.” This will also provide a more comprehensive assessment than aerial data alone. Furthermore, it is conceivable that future iterations could see the combined devices autonomously performing repairs or other assistance.

“Integrating Percepto’s Sparrow drone with Spot creates a unique solution for remote inspection,” said Michael Perry, VP of Business Development at Boston Dynamics, in a statement. “This partnership highlights the benefits of robotic collaboration and the significant improvements to worker safety and cost savings that robotics can deliver to industries involving hazardous or remote work.”