Voltair

Voltair builds drones that charge on transmission power lines. For the first time, this allows for drones with infinite range. Removing battery swaps is the last step to deploy UAVs autonomously at scale. After building drones for the Air Force and DARPA, Ronan realized this was both practical and technically feasible. Power utilities are the perfect first customer. Extreme weather creates catastrophic electrification and wildfire liability, bankrupting utilities and making them uninsurable. Voltair's drone inspections identify critical maintenance concerns before they spark fires. Autonomous drones can deliver over 20x the inspection coverage for the same cost. Following extreme weather, forward deployed drones can rapidly patrol neighborhoods for electrical hazards. Since June, we’ve validated our core charging tech on a power line, built 5x flying prototypes, and inspected ~2000 poles. With 50 miles of range, we can service 90% of the U.S. land area. After power companies, we will service rail, road, telecom, real estate, and other inspection markets. At scale we are a new infrastructure layer for data on the physical world.