How long can Aerodyne stay Malaysia’s top dog in drone tech

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Hi readers,

Did you know a hobbyist drone is cheaper than an iPhone 13 in Mayalsia? I had no clue until an acquaintance, who happens to be a drone tech geek, brought it up.

Of course, these drones capture visuals and aren’t like the souped-up ones firms use to tackle high risk or tricky jobs like asset inspection or last-mile medicine deliveries.

But capturing visuals is how Aerodyne, the world’s top drone services provider, got its start. The drone tech firm was founded in 2014 by Kamarul A. Muhamed, who saw the potential of using drones in bigger jobs after using them in his media production company.

Kamarul was in many ways a first mover. He also proved his business model could work after he landed a gig to inspect assets of Petronas, Malaysia’s national oil company.

The rest, as they say, is history.

But as Aerodyne has cemented itself as the go-to drone tech provider, other upstarts are also looking to wrestle for domestic and regional market share.

Larger corporations are also mulling their own in-house drone pilot teams, while others, such as Capital A (formerly AirAsia), have set up pilot-training centers.

Aside from entrepreneurial smarts, policy has also been key to the competitive landscape in Malaysia.

Both federal and state governments have opened up sites for drone players, including those based overseas such as Singapore’s Garuda Robotics, to test their solutions at the Medini drone test site, considered the largest in Southeast Asia.

Can policymakers keep up with demand? We also can’t dismiss privacy and security concerns. These tensions will continue to surface as Malaysia pushes the boundaries of drone tech.

For now, Aerodyne seems to be thriving and is on an acquisition spree, with its latest buy bolstering its data analytics and AI capabilities. While looking at a potential listing on the Nasdaq or Tokyo Stock Exchange, it’s also not ruling out a dual listing on Bursa Malaysia.

But how long can it be Malaysia’s drone darling?

— Emmanuel Samarathisa, journalist at Tech in Asia

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