The London-headquartered business was founded in 2009 and currently services more than 30 global clients across 10 countries. Major customers in the oil and gas sector include BG Group, Shell and Apache.
The company uses drones to collect video, stills and thermal imagery data for its clients. It then puts it through its proprietary data platform, provides analysis and compiles a technical reports for end users.
The majority of the latest investment has come from the Bristow Group, a provider of helicopter services for the energy industry. The group provided $4.2 of the funding, with VC firm MMC Ventures injecting a further $1.5m.
Sky-Futures founder and CEO, James Harrison said the partnership with Bristow “enables us to rapidly expand the operational delivery of drone-based inspection services in the oil and gas industry".
“We’re working on automating the entire analysis process using algorithms to provide a high degree of confidence to engineers. This will enable more efficient operations, planning and maintenance of the infrastructure,” he continued.
