Latest Elsight Funding Round: $8.3 Million for Product Development, Market Expansion

The latest Elsight funding round of $8.3M will fund product development and market growth, says CEO Yoav Amitai.

DRONELIFE wrote about Elsight’s Halo product earlier this year: the company’s flagship connectivity solution.  Elsight’s powerful bi-directional algorithm splits any kind of data (video, audio, telemetry and more) into encrypted packets, using secure VPN tunnelling to transmit via multiple cellular and RF IP links, and decrypting and recombining at the destination. The algorithm automatically detects any failed channels, and seamlessly switches to the most suitable available transmission method.  With this uber-reliable connectivity solution, Elsight plans to  become the leading provider of  connectivity solutions for top tier commercial drones, enabling beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights.

“We believe that a secure, reliable, C2 communication link, topped by the option to stream data in real-time from any unmanned platform to anywhere in the world is key for commercial-scale UAS operations, from inspection and precision agriculture to delivery and public safety,” says a company press release about the newest Elsight funding round. “Our latest product offering, Halo, already serves many types of UAVs/ UGVs around the globe, to provide reliable connectivity, from visual line of sight to beyond visual line of sight operations. ”

DRONELIFE spoke with Elsight CEO Yoav Amitai about the new funding round and where the company plans to expand their market.  Amitai says the while the company is open to all opportunities, the U.S. market is a focus.   “Since we work directly with platform manufacturers, we can go anywhere – but I would say that our strategic market is the USA,” says Amitai.

“There are few reasons for that – first, it seems like the US regulators are making significant progress, which is enabling the drone ecosystem to grow quickly… the many drone companies located in or targeting the U.S. market, and the industry adoption of drone operations in the U.S., make it the ideal market for us.”

Amitai says that the recent publication of the final rule on Remote ID in the U.S. indicates the strength of the drone industry.  “As I mentioned, the U.S. [FAA] is making significant steps to enable the drone ecosystem,” says Amitai. “The authorization last Monday is an excellent example of it. The technology is ready for the next step – now it is just a matter of market education and regulation progress.”

“We see that creating a business case with drone operations takes more than just remote ID to create a scalable solution (i.e., C2 communication channel) – but it is good that the regulators have not limited the manufacturers there.”

Amitai says getting the new funding during the pandemic was a challenge: but one that Elsight was happy to overcome.  “The main effect [of the pandemic] was the fact we couldn’t travel, so we did the whole round over virtual call – it was an exciting experience,” he says.  “I want to thank our long-term investors again – and the new ones joining us –  for continuing to support us and believe in the direction we are going.”