Flemish start-up Unifly acquires 5 MEUR financing

Antwerp, November 21, 2016: Terra Drone (a major Japanese drone operator and system integrator) confirms its trust in the VITO spin-off Unifly by investing a total of 5 million euro together with Qbic and PMV. Terra Drone provides 80% of the total capital.

Unifly - the European leading provider of Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) and Drone Operations Management software - will use the investment to accelerate its growth and to build an international sales organisation. Unifly is uniquely positioned to capture a large market share and to become a global player.

Successful Series A round

The VITO spin-off Unifly has become successful in many ways in its merely 12 months of existence. Started off in August 2015, Unifly has already gained the leading position in Europe by now as provider of software to manage unmanned air traffic in combination with regular aviation. Its product development and launch was financed by the SOFI Fund of QBIC and PMV.

For its further growth, Unifly has conducted a Series A round, which was successfully completed last week. On November 17, 2016, Terra Drone, a major Japanese drone operator and system integrator, has signed on for a total of 5 million euro together with the original investors, Qbic and PMV. This financing is bringing the total external funding of Unifly to 6.3 million euro. Being the single largest investment in a UTM software company in Europe, it illustrates the trust of the investors in the technology and the team of Unifly.

The sky is not the limit

The market for Unmanned Traffic Management is very young, but is essential for the anticipated growth of the drone industry. Since the introduction of Unifly’s application software for professional and private drone operators in April 2016, over 1,000 users have registered, of whom over 30 % from outside of Europe.

Unifly aims to become the de facto standard for professional drone operators. Therefore, Unifly is partnering in global initiatives such as the Global UTM Association and ISO to develop standards for Unmanned Traffic Management.

Marc Kegelaers, CEO of Unifly: “We are very proud and excited to have been able to attract Terra Drone as an investor. Not only do they bring us the resources enabling us to accelerate our growth significantly; they will also be instrumental to opening up the market for us in the APAC region”.

Toru Tokushige of Terra Drone: ”I am very glad and excited to enter into the UTM business and alliance with Unifly, the leading company of UTM. In the partnership with Unifly, we will expand the business in APAC, and also set the global standard. We are eager to launch the service to accelerate the drone industry as soon as possible.”