On the verge of closing its Yahoo acquisition, Verizon has made another acquisition — albeit a less controversial one. The company has acquired drone operations and management company Skyward. The company will now be listed and operated under Verizon’s IoT portfolio.
Based out of Oregon, Skyward mostly counts enterprises and businesses that have drones at their center, as their main customer. The company provides a slew of software that allow companies to better manage their flights. It has managed to raise $8.15M since its founding in October 2012 and counts Verizon’s investment arm as one of its main backers.
Speaking on the acquisition, Mike Lanman, Verizon SVP Enterprise Products and IoT said:
Last quarter we announced our strategy to drive innovation and widespread adoption for in-flight wireless connectivity through our Airborne LTE Operations (ALO) initiative, a new service to simplify certification and connectivity of wireless drones. This acquisition is a natural progression of our core focus on operating in innovative, high-growth markets, leveraging our network, scale, fleet management, device management, data analytics and security enablement capabilities and services to simplify the drone industry and help support the adoption of IoT.
The acquisition makes sense from a strategic perspective — if not in light of what Verizon actually does. Verizon is a telecom major, however, it has been looking to diversify of late. Skyward operates in a niche that is slated to grow as drones make their way into different businesses and countries. Even in established markets, companies are now looking to ensure greater safety for their drones, which is exactly what Skyward professes to offer.
The company has already developed a platform that is compliant with the Federal Aviation Authority, which is something of a small achievement all on its own. With Verizon’s full backing, Skyward will now be able to grow and expand its business further.
