From Hollywood movies to real life, drones have cemented their impact as not only part of the culture now, but also a big part of our future. For about half a decade we’ve been promised delivery drones, blackening out are skies, delivering anything from food to fashion, as well as performing maintenance work and even enforcing our airways. The big question has always been how are we to manage the aerial traffic?

Israeli startup High Lander, which develops end-to-end software-based autonomous drone fleets management solution, announced a $3 million Seed funding round. The investment was led by India’s most progressive Tier 2 defensive engineering company Paras Defence and Space Technologies, with participation from AGV Group.

A software-only solution for total UAV management

“From the get-go, Paras knew our technology could solve a rather complex problem for their local market, and as we grew more comfortable with them a larger vision materialized. This is not only an investment that will allow us to fast-track current projects and expand, but also a strategic partnership that we’re extremely excited to be a part of,” said Ido Yahalomi, CTO of High Lander.

High Lander’s technology provides users with a software-only solution that adapts to all drones, enlisting them to be part of a coordinated, autonomous, and smart fleet. According to the company, the system overcomes the drones’ main vulnerability, which is airtime and travel distance, by hot-swapping the UAVs, allowing complete continuity of operational fleets.

Essentially, High Lander’s system automates air-traffic-control for autonomous drone fleets by rerouting and maintaining flight control over hundreds of drones, to help keep from mid-air crashes or loss of goods. The company claims that with growing regulations regarding the UAVs, it is perfectly situated to provide a software-only solution. Each user is able to manage the fleets through what the company calls High Lander’s Mission Control platform, receiving data in real-time regarding the status of the fleet and its various missions.

“High Lander’s innovation has impressed us from the start, and their mature product offering has them well positioned to play a huge role in the future of drone technology,” said Mr. Munjal Shah, Managing Director, Paras Defence. “A strategic relationship with High Lander always made sense to us, so the opportunity to offer a firm commitment dovetailed with our overall goals. This investment offers a great value for us both and further strengthens our positioning in the market.”

The High Lander team credit: High Lander

In addition to the Seed money, Paras Defence and Space Technologies has also partnered with the Israeli startup. The Indian enterprise will help maneuver through Indian regulations and politics, as well as developing market opportunities in the sub-continent. The Mumbai-based conglomerate aims to leverage its vast experience from its Paras Aerospace Solution subsidiary to access the wide variety of different operational uses for the drone fleet management technology. Whether it be for emergency, security, survey, or delivery, expect drones to play a major part in human mobility, maybe one day, but for now we’ll settle for quick Amazon delivery.

High Lander was founded in 2018 by CEO Alon Abelson, and CTO Ido Yahalomi. Based in Israel, the company intends to point the new influx of capital towards further developing its software, penetrate new markets, and recruit top-level talent to help take the company forward.