Long the domain of the military, drones have exploded in the consumer consciousness and enterprise realms in recent years.  Advancements in hardware and software, along with an enhanced FAA regulatory framework have opened up the market.  At Comcast Ventures, we have been tracking the drone space for several years, waiting for the right inflection point and the right commercial use cases to gain ahold.  We think that day has finally come, so we are announcing our investment in PrecisionHawk, a leading provider of drone software and services for the enterprise market based out of Raleigh, NC.

With an early start in fixed-wing drones and a focus on the agricultural industry, PrecisionHawk has more recently expanded its capabilities to multi-rotor copters and is now servicing additional industries such as insurance, construction, energy and the government.  PrecisionHawk couples a wide array of advanced image sensors with its analytics software platform to offer insights and decision support for critical business calls.  From helping commercial farmers improve their watering and fertilization of crops to assisting P&C insurers with home and rooftop inspections after natural disasters, PrecisionHawk works with companies all over the world as they adopt drones into their traditional workflows.

Earlier this year, PrecisionHawk brought in Michael Chasen, formerly co-founder & CEO of Blackboard, the education technology company, as its new CEO to take the company to the next level, and we have been impressed with his progress to date.  We are pleased to be joining a new group of investors led by Third Point Ventures, alongside existing investors Millennium Technology Value Partners, Intel Capital and others in Precision Hawk’s $75M Series D.  We look forward to the continued adoption of enterprise drones and seeing where Michael takes PrecisionHawk in the future.