Malaysia’s Aerodyne acquires stake in Australian drone surveying firm Sensorem

Aerodyne Group, a Malaysia-headquartered drone tech startup, has agreed to acquire a principal stake in Sensorem, an Australian drone surveying and advanced asset inspection firm.

Sensorem’s existing management team, led by managing director Ed Boxall, will continue to lead the company and remain as shareholders in the business, according to a statement.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Photo credit: Aerodyne

Based out of Perth, Sensorem offers its services to a variety of sectors, including government and local authorities, construction, utility companies, and research and development agencies. The company places an emphasis on mining and agriculture as well.

With the investment, Sensorem will provide Aerodyne’s solutions to businesses across industries in Australia. This includes the latter’s AI-powered and cloud-based asset management solution called Vertikaliti.

“We believe there is immense opportunity ahead for our Vertikaliti solution suite in the Australian market, and we look forward to working with Ed and his team to super-charge the next stage of growth,” said Aerodyne chief operating officer Rossi Jaafar.

Meanwhile, the deal will allow Sensorem to leverage Aerodyne’s global footprint and economies of scale, noted Boxall.

Founded in 2014, Aerodyne provides drone-based enterprise solutions, using AI for data analytics and process optimization. It currently employs 400 drone professionals and has managed more than 300,000 infrastructure assets across 32 countries globally.

The startup’s announcement comes after it announced additional strategic partnerships with China’s North Summit Capital, India’s Arc Ventures, and Japan’s Leave a Nest to accelerate its expansion in the said countries.

Late last year, Aerodyne raised US$30 million in a series B round led by Intervest and Kejora Ventures.