Tekever Secures $23M Funding for Maritime Surveillance Drones
The Rise of Industrial Drones and Tekever's Funding Success
Industrial drones – the professional counterparts to the consumer drones commonly used for recreational purposes – are experiencing significant growth in the marketplace. This expansion is driven by advancements in both software and hardware, resulting in improved battery performance, extended operational range, and enhanced overall capabilities. A growing number of organizations are adopting these technologies to optimize their data collection and analysis processes.
Tekever Secures €20 Million in Funding
Tekever, a company specializing in the development of artificial intelligence (AI) for drones designed for maritime applications, has recently announced a new funding round. The company has seen considerable demand for its innovative devices and associated services.
The funding totals €20 million (approximately $23 million USD based on current exchange rates). Ventura Capital spearheaded the investment, with additional participation from Iberis Capital and several undisclosed strategic investors within the maritime sector. These funds will be allocated to expanding the company’s workforce and furthering the development of its core technology.
A History of Innovation and Growth
Founded in 2001 in Lisbon, Portugal – a city with a rich maritime heritage – Tekever began offering commercial services in 2018. The company has already achieved profitability and projects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 60% over the next three years. This current funding represents Tekever’s first external investment, intended to accelerate technological expansion and broaden its customer base.
Applications Across Sectors
Tekever’s clientele includes governmental bodies and agencies utilizing the drones for monitoring maritime activities, specifically to detect illegal operations. Additionally, private shipping companies and other seafaring businesses employ the technology to track weather conditions, analyze maritime traffic, and monitor other environmental factors that could impact their operations.
Vertically Integrated Approach to Drone Technology
Established by a team of experts in intelligence and AI, Tekever operates as a vertically integrated business. This means the company designs and manufactures both the drones themselves and the sophisticated technology integrated within them. This technology is used to monitor and interpret activity beneath the water’s surface, and even to forecast potential future events.
While vertically integrated drone companies are not uncommon, Tekever’s development path is unique. The company prioritized the creation of the software capable of interpreting the marine environment before designing the drones to optimally support its functionality.
Software-First Design Philosophy
According to co-founder and CEO Ricardo Mendes, Tekever took an unconventional approach. “We started from the opposite direction of every other company working in the drone sector,” he explained. The company initially focused on developing the technology to analyze its target environment – bodies of water – and subsequently built drones specifically designed to facilitate the effective operation of that software.
This involved integrating specialized antennae, sensors, and power systems directly into the drone’s structure. This close integration effectively prevents the software from functioning with other drone platforms. The software architecture leverages a combination of edge AI, satellite communication, and cloud computing.
"Intelligence as a Service" and Accessibility
Developing specialized drone hardware presents significant challenges and costs. However, this was a deliberate strategy. Tekever primarily offers drone-based surveillance services, branded as Atlas, described by Mendes as “intelligence as a service.” This approach aims to maximize accessibility, as the drones – with wingspans ranging from two to eight meters and flight times up to 20 hours – are financially prohibitive for all but the largest organizations.
Mendes emphasized the company’s commitment to global accessibility: “The question we set out to answer was, ‘what do you need to do to make this simple and available all over the world, not just to the richest nations?’” He reiterated that the drones are merely one component of a larger system.
Real-World Applications and Impact
Organizations like the European Maritime Security Agency (EMSA) and the United Kingdom’s Home Office are among Tekever’s customers. Smaller African nations also utilize the technology to monitor their waters for illegal activities such as piracy, drug trafficking, human smuggling, pollution, illegal fishing, and threats to critical infrastructure.
Recent reports have highlighted increased investment in drone and military technology by European governments for refugee surveillance, raising concerns about the effectiveness and ethical implications of these practices. While other companies, such as Anduril, have achieved financial success amidst controversy, Tekever’s CEO believes its technology offers a net positive impact.
The Value of Real-Time Intelligence
“When you are talking about vast regions like the ocean there are a lot of unknowns about what is going on,” Mendes stated. Traditional reliance on satellite imagery is often insufficient, as the data is typically days old. “Fishing, smuggling, trafficking, immigration — these are all areas where real-time intelligence is required. It’s not just footage, but the beginning of solving the problem.”
Tekever’s technology aims to enable proactive intervention. The objective is to facilitate action before incidents occur, and to leverage predictive analytics to anticipate future events. Even a short response time improvement – as little as five minutes – can be critical in dynamic marine environments.
Future Development and Expansion
The company’s future plans include expanding its technological capabilities. While currently focused on analyzing surface and near-surface activity, Tekever is exploring the potential for detecting submarine activity, requiring the integration of lidar and radar technologies. Identifying and classifying oil spills is another area of development.
Currently focused on the “blue economy,” Tekever is also extending its expertise to terrestrial environments. The company’s investment in Brazilian drone company Santos Lab provides a foothold in rainforest monitoring and analysis, demonstrating its ambition to tackle complex terrain challenges.
Industry Recognition and Investor Confidence
“Tekever is a very unconventional UAS company and a market leader with outclass technology, thousands of hours of operational experience, a seasoned leadership team and a phenomenal and profitable business vision in a fast-growing market,” commented Mo El Husseiny, managing partner at Ventura Capital. “These attributes have made it a flagship investment for Ventura, aligned to our portfolio of disruptors in technology.”
Diogo Chalbert Santos, a partner at Iberis Capital, added, “Tekever is one of the hottest European Deeptech scaleups, and we’re very proud to continue working with the team and helping them disrupt the global market.” He playfully remarked, “It’s amazing what Tekever has already achieved as a bootstrapped business and I’d say not even the sky is a limit with this round.”