LIVINGSTON-based drone company Cyberhawk is targeting expansion following a new £2 million funding package from Clydesdale Bank’s growth finance team.
While drones have made negative headlines due to reckless domestic operators manoeuvring their devices into flight paths – resulting in a number of near misses with aircraft – Cyberhawk is in high demand for its remotely operated aerial vehicle (ROAV) inspection and survey work. Using proprietary software, Cyberhawk converts drone-captured data into asset management information, allowing users to identify, filter and prioritise maintenance works, for example.
Cyberhawk CEO Craig Roberts said the funding would enable it to accelerate growth, significantly boost its 50 staff, develop its products and services and expand its global footprint, ensuring the company “continued to lead the commercial development of the ROAV inspection market”.
Mr Roberts said: “Capturing images with drones may be considered a relatively simple process in certain market segments, but turning that data into something which is of genuine value to asset managers is the real challenge for the industry.”
Since it began conducting onshore and offshore inspections for the oil and gas sector, Cyberhawk has enjoyed sustained growth and has built a global client base in oil and gas. The firm has carried out inspections across the world and aims to open an office in Houston, Texas – the US’ domestic oil capital – this year.
Beyond oil and gas, the company operates in the utilities sector, counting SSE as a client, and last year it boosted its transport credentials with a framework award from Network Rail. 2015 also saw the company launch of a commercial wind turbine blade inspection solution.
Commenting that there was clearly further potential for growth at the firm, Nick Edgar, senior director, growth finance at Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks, said: “Cyberhawk’s management team has built successfully on the firm’s global track record of success in oil and gas by extending its services into other sectors such as utilities and renewables. With plans also progressing for the firm’s move into the US market, we look forward to supporting Cyberhawk in this latest expansion phase for the business.”
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