BERKELEY, Calif., April 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- 3DR, North America's largest manufacturer of consumer drones and founder of the world's leading open drone software platform, today announced an expansion of its Series C round of financing from $50 million to $64 million. The additional funding is led by WestSummit Capital, with additional global investors from Asia, Europe and the U.S. participating, including SanDisk Ventures and Atlantic Bridge Ventures. 3DR initiated the Series C financing with $50 million in investment led by Qualcomm Ventures, with Foundry Group, True Ventures, OATV, Mayfield, Shea Ventures. 3DR will leverage the expertise and market knowledge from a diverse investor base to lead innovation in the dynamic and rapidly expanding global UAV market.
"3DR's roots are in a worldwide, open developer community, so creating an equally expansive global organization is a key part of company strategy," said Chris Anderson, CEO of 3DR. "China is emerging as a world leader in drone technology and production, and many of the innovative companies there are already using 3DR platforms. We see tremendous opportunity to work with investors and experts in these markets to extend that lead and work more closely with innovative young companies."
"We're active investors in the Internet of Things market and see huge promise in 3DR as a leader in next-generation robotics," said David Lam, Managing Director of WestSummit Capital. "IoT is a truly international market where software meets hardware and East meets West, and 3DR has developed an incredibly advanced and globally adopted drone software and hardware platform. WestSummit Capital's China Value Creation capabilities match perfectly with 3DR's cross-border business, embracing Silicon Valley innovation, Asian manufacturing, global competition and the global market."
"We strongly believe in 3DR's vision in becoming the leading open platform for developers in the drone market. Our investment strategy in the IoT, computer vision and robotics sectors, combined with our presence in the European, American and Asian markets, will complement and support 3DR's strategy to be a global leader in the burgeoning drone industry," said Brian Long, General Partner, Atlantic Bridge Ventures.
For more information please visit www.3dr.com
About 3DR
3DR helps people see their world from above. As North America's largest personal drone company, 3DR is a pioneer in making advanced, easy-to-use drone technology accessible to consumers for a wide range of everyday exploration and photography, and for applications using data analysis, mapping, surveying and 3D modeling for agriculture, construction, infrastructure, search and rescue and ecological study.
3DR was founded in 2009 by Chris Anderson and Jordi Munoz, and currently operates with over 275 employees in North America and more than 100,000 customers worldwide. 3DR has enjoyed enormous global success with its market-leading APM software platform, the Pixhawk autopilot and Solo™: The Smart Drone.
