Tim Draper, a venture capitalist, among others betted on the potential use of drones for commercial use in the US. Draper had already invested in DroneDeploy, a startup that would create a software for manning aircrafts remotely.
Investment in drones had already doubled since 2012. In the initial nine months of 2013, venture capitalists in the US had invested USD40.9 million into startups focused on developing drones or related products for drones. In addition, USD13.3 million was raised during the startup of Airware in Newport Beach, California.
Jonathan Downey, chief executive officer, saw the attraction of Airware in venture capitalists after the product had been tested by customers.
"We'd looked at raising money last year, and it was very different," Downy told Bloomberg in an email.
With the cost of sensors dropping, drones had been inching closer to mainstream use. Google Ventures partner Andy Wheeler claimed the plunge in costs convinced Google Ventures to invest in drone startups. Wheeler also said, "We are talking orders of magnitude lower than military technology."
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