Hottest Finnish drone startups 2021
Drones have come to stay, and their market is growing at a staggering speed. Drone Industry Insights estimates the annual growth rate to be over 20% both worldwide and in Europe, and even higher in Asia. The European drone market is forecasted to more than double from 2018’s $4.0b to $9.7b by 2024. For the companies in the field, this means they can grow their revenues without any change in their market share.
Before jumping to the hottest drone players in Finland, let’s take a look in what does this mean for those of us who actually don’t work in the field.
We do not often see drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), when walking in the cities of 2021. Modern streets are full of cars, bikes and pedestrians, but a drone in action is still a rare sight. This is changing every year, as more and more tasks are switched over to be performed by drones.
The situation is much like how we switched from horse carriages to cars, and we have just gotten started.
From logistics to agriculture, construction to forestry, and telecom tower maintenance to mining, drones are instrumental in getting more done with less: less risk to human life, less costs and less emissions.
A drone can deliver medical supplies in emergencies at a fraction of the time and cost of what it used to take.
Construction site progress can be inspected in detail remotely, enabling more accurate forecasting of schedules and reduction of waste.
Rapid situational overview of traffic accidents and inspections of street and road quality to prioritize maintenance efforts, especially in winter, can save lives as well.
A drone can perform a telecom tower inspection much faster than what it would take a human to climb up to the dizzying heights, all the while avoiding risk to human life.
Finland, the Nordic home country of numerous tech startups like Supercell, Wolt and Smartly, is the home market of increasingly many drone startups as well. The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency’s long tradition of supporting unmanned industry development has made Finland an ideal setting for pushing the boundary of what is possible without compromising safety.
Six Finnish drone startups to follow
Fleetonomy – Developers of next generation decision-making systems, including autonomous driving and flying of drones, cars and other vehicles. They also offer these as a managed service.
Flyby Guys – Planning and management of large-scale drone operations of up to hundreds of units in the air simultaneously, and consulting on a variety of demanding drone-related topics. They have a wide network of partners, through which they have been able to put together proposals for comprehensive projects in days.
Mericon – Producing measurements such as high-quality orthophotos and photogrammetric point clouds, tied to the local coordinate system. The end product of the service can be a surface or a 3D-model of the described object in CAD format or a classified point cloud for example in las-format. Rapid mass calculations on large objects or areas.
Robots Expert – Drone experts helping organizations identify value-adding drone use cases and implement them; cities to identify and prepare for the transition to drone-powered transportation as part of their mobility mix; and provide in-depth assistance to drone operators and manufacturers to meet regulatory, airworthiness and organization requirements.
Skydata – Over 10 years of experience in hardware solutions, pilot training and consulting companies on how to utilize drones efficiently and safely. Ready to offer turnkey solutions, including training, technical support, rental and backup hardware, auditing and development services and insurance covering insurance and responsibilities.
Viasor – 3D modeling of buildings and construction sites. Can be used e.g. for planning and guidance for maintenance, or following the development of construction sites remotely for accurate forecasting and management.
Looking for more drone specialists? Have a look at an extended list of local drone startups at Ecosystem.fi.
