AgEagle Acquires senseFly, Launches New MicaSense Sensor

AgEagle Acquires senseFly, Launches New MicaSense Sensor

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

Industry leader AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. and leading European drone group Parrot revealed in a joint announcement that they have signed an agreement under which AgEagle will acquire Parrot subsidiary senseFly in a cash and stock transaction valued at US$23 million.

senseFly, founded in 2009, develops and produces a line of eBee-branded high performance fixed wing drones for professional use.  These drones are used by thousands of customers worldwide in fields such as agriculture, government, engineering and construction to collect actionable aerial data intelligence. The Switzerland based company employs approximately 90 people, generating total annual revenues of approximately US$12.5 million in 2020.

“Recognized as the producer of the world’s most widely used fixed wing drones, senseFly is an ideal strategic fit for AgEagle; and is expected to accelerate our core growth strategy centered on delivering proprietary, full stack drone solutions to the global agriculture, construction, energy, government sectors, and in the future, package delivery,” said AgEagle CEO Brandon Torres Declet. “In addition, senseFly brings AgEagle solid engineering talent focused on advanced research and development, a well-established global reseller network and a strong portfolio of intellectual property.”

“We trust that senseFly and the eBee line of fixed wing drones will continue to deliver tangible value, benefits and efficiencies to AgEagle’s customers and business partners well into the future,” commented Parrot founder and CEO Henri Seydoux. “Moving forward, Parrot will focus its expertise and resources on the growth of its professional quadcopter drone equipment and drone data analysis software activities. The transaction will provide additional cash and lower operational expenses to drive Parrot’s growth and industry standing. With the expanded capabilities of the ANAFI line of professional drones and of the Pix4D software suites, Parrot will continue to address its core market segments: 3D Mapping, Surveying and Inspection, Agriculture, and Defense and Security.”

“senseFly has reached a very exciting and pivotal point in its history and is well positioned to build upon its leading position in the fixed wing drone market and accelerate its promising growth trajectory through this strategic combination with AgEagle,” noted Gilles Labossiere, senseFly’s CEO. “The impressive mix of solutions for customers and proven industry experience of both companies is expected to make for a solid foundation capable of propelling the companies forward and fueling exponential growth.”

The acquisition will see Labossiere resign as CEO of senseFly, with Michael O’Sullivan, formerly the Company’s Head of Global Marketing, appointed as Managing Director. All other senseFly employees will retain their current positions.

“We are very pleased to welcome senseFly to the fast-growing AgEagle family and look forward to integrating its many strengths with the power and performance of AgEagle’s proprietary sensor and software solutions to effectively meet the needs of customers globally,” Torres Declet added. “We would also like to extend our deepest thanks to Gilles for his leadership at senseFly and the instrumental role he played in the acquisition process. This is an exciting inflection point for the AgEagle and senseFly teams.”

This is just the newest in a series of recent acquisitions by AgEagle, who acquired Measure back in April and MicaSense in January.

AgEagle is already making good use of those acquisitions, recently announcing the launch of MicaSense’s RedEdge-P drone sensor.

With three times the capture speed and twice the spatial resolution of the RedEdge-MX™, the RedEdge-P improves on the industry-trusted multispectral sensor, adding a higher resolution, panchromatic band to double the output data resolution. Compatible with a wide range of drone aircraft, the single camera solution captures calibrated high-resolution multispectral and RGB imagery with an optimized field of view and capture rate for efficient flights. The RedEdge-P enables pixel-aligned outputs at previously unattainable resolutions. Data output processing will be available through platforms such as AgEagle’s Measure Ground Control.

“We are very proud to be introducing what we believe is the commercial drone industry’s best solution for capturing high-res RGB and multispectral data from a single camera,” said Justin McAllister, MicaSense’s Vice President of Research and Development. “The RedEdge-P has been purpose-built to enable comprehensive, season-long plant canopy analysis over larger acreage and at a spatial resolution that is considered among the highest available in the industry.”

“By leveraging and amplifying the first-class engineering talent and development expertise of our team, AgEagle is committed to pioneering innovations in drone hardware, software and sensors that empower enterprises and government agencies to do more, see further, go farther. We are very excited to bring yet another industry leading drone solution to market which we expect will have significant, positive impact on how our customers solve challenges and benefit from measurable improvement in efficiencies in their field operations,” added Torres Declet.

Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.