Airware

Airware, founded in 2011 by Jonathan Downey, was a venture-backed company that aimed to provide a comprehensive drone operating system for enterprises. Downey, a pilot and an MIT-trained electrical engineer and computer scientist, identified a market need for a standardized platform to control commercial drones, similar to how Microsoft Windows unified the personal computer market. His experience as an amateur drone pilot revealed the lack of a common software and hardware framework for various commercial applications.

The company's core offering was the Aerial Information Platform (AIP), which combined hardware, software, and cloud services to enable enterprises to safely and reliably operate drones for data collection and analysis. This platform was designed to be hardware-agnostic, allowing businesses to use different drone models for various tasks such as site surveys in mining and construction, or for insurance claim inspections. The software component provided tools for flight planning, autonomous operation, and data management, while the hardware included a flight control computer, or "Redbird," that could be integrated into different drone airframes. Airware generated revenue by selling this integrated platform to large enterprise clients in sectors like mining, construction, and insurance.

Over its lifespan, Airware attracted significant venture capital, raising a total of $118 million from prominent investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Goldman Sachs. A key milestone was the acquisition of Redbird, a French drone analytics company, in 2016, which enhanced Airware's data processing and analytics capabilities, particularly for the construction and mining industries. Despite its promising technology and substantial funding, Airware ceased operations in September 2018. The company struggled to secure the necessary follow-on financing to navigate a challenging market where the hardware and software components were rapidly commoditizing. Keywords: drone operating system, aerial information platform, commercial drones, enterprise drone solutions, flight control systems, drone data analytics, venture capital, drone hardware, mining, construction