Kespry, a designer of automated drone systems for commercial use, has announced the close of a Series B equity financing round of $16 million.
With these funds, Kespry says it is hiring more engineering and service teams. In the past 12 months, the company says it has more than doubled in size and is now moving into a larger headquarters in California’s Silicon Valley.
The lead investor in the round was DCM Ventures, a venture capital firm with a portfolio of over 280 technology companies across the U.S. and Asia.
Lightspeed Venture Partners was the lead investor in Kespry’s Series A round of $10 million in October 2014 and has made a significant follow-on investment in the Series B.
Other new investors in the round include Spectrum 28 in Silicon Valley; H. Barton Asset Management, led by former NFL star Harris Barton; Rothenberg Ventures; and Silicon Valley legal firm Wilson Sonsini.
Kespry’s customers include those in the aggregates, construction and surveying industries: Fluor, Lehigh Hanson/Heidelberg, Sully-Miller/COLAS, Terus Construction, Webcor, Whitaker Contracting, Woolpert and others.
Kespry also works with NVIDIA on a deep-learning module that will enable Kespry drones to automatically identify and track specific objects, such as construction equipment and materials.
