Xavier Kong · · 1 min readSG inspection drone startup sees $1.5m from Tencent co-founder
Singapore-based Quantified Energy Labs (QE Labs), which uses drones to support solar farm management and maintenance, secured US$1.5 million in angel funding from Liu Xiaosong, co-founder of Chinese tech giant Tencent.
Liu also established Hong Kong-listed A8 New Media Group, and is a founding partner of VC firm Qingsong Fund as well.
(From left) QE Labs CEO Yan Wang, lead researcher Ji Zhang, COO Yong Sheng Khoo, and CTO Karl Bedrich / Photo credit: QE Labs
QE Labs seeks to address the lack of solutions to effectively monitor and detect defects in large solar photovoltaic farms on the market. To do this, the company has developed its patented autonomous drone electroluminescence (EL) mapping technology.
By combining the speed and efficiency of drone usage with EL testing equipment, the firm’s drones are able to spot internal defects. In comparison, current drone solutions that are only able to spot surface issues using visual or thermographic inspection.
The startup, which already offers its services in Singapore and the US, will use the new funds to improve its offerings and expand its operations into other major markets like Europe and Australia.
Editing by Miguel Cordon and Lorenzo Kyle Subido
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