Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Drone Startup Airware Is Shutting Down After Raising $118 Million (techcrunch.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the gone-with-the-wind dept.

Drone operating system startup Airware, which has appeared in a number of stories over the years, announced today that it will be shutting down immediately despite having raised $118 million from investors. " The startup ran out of money after trying to manufacture its own hardware that couldn't compete with drone giants like China's DJI," reports TechCrunch. "The company at one point had as many as 140 employees, all of which are now out of a job." From the report: Founded in 2011 by Jonathan Downey, the son of two pilots, Airware first built an autopilot system for programming drones to follow certain routes to collect data. It could help businesses check rooftops for damage, see how much of a raw material was coming out of a mine, or build constantly-updated maps of construction sites. Later it tried to build its own drones before pivoting to consult clients on how to most efficiently apply unmanned aerial vehicles. While flying high, Airware launched its own Commercial Drone Fund for investing in the market in 2015, and acquired 38-person drone analytics startup Redbird in 2016. In this pre-crypto, pre-AI boom, Airware scored a ton of hype from us and others as they tried to prove drones could be more than war machines. But over time, the software that shipped with commercial drone hardware from other manufacturers was good enough to make Airware irrelevant, and a downward spiral of layoffs began over the past two years, culminating in today's shutdown. Demonstrating how sudden the shut down is, Airware opened a Tokyo headquarters alongside an investment and partnership from Mitsubishi just four days ago. As for the employees, they "will get one week's severance, COBRA insurance until November, and payouts for unused paid time off," reports TechCrunch.

11 of 38 comments (clear)

  1. Like many, they suffered from NIH syndrome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Open-source was absolutely smashing these guys. They wasted inordinate amounts of time re-writing (poorly) the same features anyone could have for a download.

    They should have been more like other "drone" companies and just steal/illegally use the open-source code. DJI wouldn't exist without MultiWii.

  2. 140 employees by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    140 employees to build, market, and sell a drone.

    1. Re:140 employees by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      140 employees to build, market, and sell a drone.

      Indeed. Their problem was that they couldn't decide what business they were in. Hardware? Software? Services? They tried to "do it all".

      Apple can afford to "do it all" and make both hardware and software, but Apple has 70,000 employees and $247B in the bank.

      If you have 140 employees you need to focus.

    2. Re:140 employees by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      That's the thing: they might have been successful if they had only gotten $800k. Or a bit more perhaps. Their problem wasn't that they didn't have enough money, they had too much of it, then they lost focus and overspent. Not the first startup to fall into this trap either.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  3. "Drone Company Crashes to the Ground" headline by elrous0 · · Score: 1

    The other newspaper editors said I was crazy when I came up with that headline. WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?!?

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  4. Fringe benefits by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 1

    As for the employees, they "will get one week's severance, COBRA insurance until November, and payouts for unused paid time off,"

    Don't forget all those sweet-ass selfies.

    1. Re:Fringe benefits by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 1

      As for the employees, they "will get one week's severance, COBRA insurance until November, and payouts for unused paid time off,"

      Apperently they had quite a bit of money left if the payouts to 140 employees are this good after "running out of money".... Wonder what's really going on? Wonder where their Intellectual Property is going? Sounds shady.

      --
      If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    2. Re:Fringe benefits by quarrel · · Score: 1

      No, they will owe that money to the employees. In most jurisdictions, if a company can't pay their debts as and when they fall due, then they are out of money.

      In some places, the Director's are personally liable if they let a company continue to trade past that point (which is bad, because a company is explicitly about limiting the liability).

  5. Re:And this... by mikael · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You'll need manufacturing to make the plastic/metal propellers, depending on size, purchase electric motors, build the frame/chassis with all the different options; landing legs, camera mounts, safety cages for propellers. All of those add weight, so that affects the size of the motors, propellers and battery. Then you are onto the control system to maintain stability, speed, monitor battery levels, motor speeds, stream audio and video by radio, handle remote control commands, do advanced features like follow targets and head-for-home if battery power gets too low.

    The problem is that there are too many choices, and they would have had to pick one niche market; the smallest lightest drone, the fastest drone, the drone with the longest in-the-air time. Each would have required R&D to find the best combination of materials.

    --
    Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
  6. Prohibitive regulations in the US and EU by Max_W · · Score: 1

    It is not possible in principle to compete with Chinese companies because of the prohibitive regulations of the civil UAV market in the US and especially in the EU.

    The civil UAV industry is like the space industry was in the second half of the 20th century. This is where innovations happen. This industry could generate millions of new hi-tech jobs. But instead we have got populist law-makers who act speaking figuratively like Chihuahuas attacking anything new and looking back for approval.

  7. Re: And this... by astrofurter · · Score: 1

    Nonsense!

    Thanks to OBAMA, America is the greatest industrial power in the world. Our bridges and roads are in perfect condition. Our industrial base isn't in collapse - it's the envy of the world! We produce far far more than China. People around the world see "made in USA" on everything they use. Consequently, American workers are all super prosperous. No one is living paycheck to paycheck.

    But TRUMP is trying to ruin it all!! 'Cuz Russia! Eeek, scary bad orange man!

    I know because NPR told me so...