Not too long ago, drones had anyone and everyone wondering what the industry's potential was.
While verticals like AR and VR have skyrocketed to the forefront of everyone's mind, drone technology is quietly doing everything we believed it could when we first started seeing those four prop devices hovering around town. While the industry picks up steam, several LA-based drone startups are poised to represent Silicon Beach to the drone community.
Anytime we hear about forest fires these days, there's inevitably mention of a drone getting in the way, causing firefighters to break off their efforts until they can guarantee that a drone won't come swooping out of the blue and getting in the way of a helicopter. This brings up a serious issue: how will drones, which are not all that small, be tracked to ensure public safety? AirMap is developing a potential solution to that. The Santa Monica-based startup has a number of APIs and SDKs that provide operators and networks with real-time information on a drone's activity. Their technology is implemented in millions of drones around the world.
Drone operations aren't just all business. As more companies realize the potential of utilizing their strengths, there is still a component to the technology that speaks directly to the consumer: the fun factor. Drone Squad fosters the burgeoning civilian drone community by matching enthusiasts in more than 80 countries via a social gaming platform. The Pasadena-based startup's app lets users manage competitions and meetups all from a simple interface.
NVDrones develops a platform that provides drone pilots with real-time flight information. The Pasadena-based startup provides drone fleet managers with geographical data and information regarding the weather in a specific area. It also helps companies keep track of flight logs and track the readiness of each drone in the fleet. In May 2016, the startup graduated from Startup Next Los Angeles.
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