AUTOMODALITY, INC. ANNOUNCES INVESTMENT FROM ACCEL AND DJI

AutoModality, Inc. (GENIUS NY grand prize winner) recently announced that SkyFund, backed by Accel and DJI, has invested in the company. AutoModality and DJI will partner in the development of high value-add enterprise solutions in the infrastructure and utilities markets. DJI is partnering with AutoModality to utilize its proprietary capabilities to enhance the value and capacity of its drone platform.

AutoModality creates autonomous mobile systems that sense, explore and analyze the world around us. Its industry leading Perceptive Navigation drone platform enables fully autonomous close-up infrastructure inspection, especially in areas that are difficult to navigate, pose safety risks, and are often GPS-denied, such as under bridges, inside buildings and tunnels, and across challenging terrains. AutoModality’s enterprise solutions consist of an off-the-shelf drone, such as a DJI M200, a powerful mobile computer, a sensor package and its proprietary Perceptive Navigation software. This creates a UAS tool that can be used across multiple platforms and industries that is safer and more efficient than ever before.
“We are excited to collaborate with DJI, the drone manufacturing industry leader, and with Accel, who are great partners for helping us advance our growth,” said Dan Hennage, CEO and co-founder of AutoModality. “We look forward to applying our Perceptive Navigation technology to high value-add enterprise solutions across a number of different verticals.”

In 2016, AutoModality placed first in the DJI SDK Challenge, a fully autonomous search and rescue challenge sponsored by DJI, Ford and the United Nations, beating 146 other teams. In March 2017, the company, based in Syracuse, New York, won the top $1 million grand prize from GENIUS NY, one of the world’s largest business competitions focused on unmanned systems, cross-connected platforms and other technology sectors. GENIUS NY is supported through CNYRising, the region’s comprehensive strategy to revitalize communities and grow the economy.
“New York State believes in economic development initiatives like the GENIUS NY competition, which focuses on the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) industry and supports tech innovators like AutoModality, further strengthening Central New York as a UAS hub,” said Howard Zemsky, president, CEO & commissioner of Empire State Development.

“AutoModality’s significant investment from the GENIUS NY program has helped spur follow on growth and opportunities for the company. This new partnership is evidence that they are successfully utilizing the program and its resources,” said Jon Parry, program director for GENIUS NY. “As the company advances its technologies and platforms it also supports our goal to create a global hub for UAS in our region. We look forward to many more announcements like this for the company.”

“This investment marks an important step in the growth cycle of AutoModality and will further enable the company to advance its next-generation technologies here in the region,” said Robert Simpson, president of CenterState CEO. “We are committed to supporting AutoModality’s continued growth as it can play a role in advancing an industry in which the region is a global leader.”
The terms of the investment transaction were not disclosed. AutoModality will be presenting at the 2nd Annual DJI AirWorks Conference on November 7-9th of this year in Denver, Colorado.
                                                                 
About AutoModality, Inc.
AutoModality is a world leader in close-up autonomous drone navigation and creates autonomous mobile systems that sense, explore and analyze the world around us. Its industry leading Perceptive Navigation automated drone platform enables fully autonomous close-up infrastructure inspection, especially in areas that are difficult to navigate and are often GPS-denied, such as under bridges, inside buildings and tunnels, and across challenging terrains. AutoModality drones can fly less than a meter from an asset being inspected, providing millimeter level resolution on captured imagery.

About SkyFund
The SkyFund, backed by DJI and Accel, funds entrepreneurs across a variety of application, hardware, peripheral and services categories where Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), robotics and intelligent machines can make a meaningful impact. SkyFund supports entrepreneurs who are building the important technologies that drive UAVs into the hands of consumers and enterprises, across a spectrum of high-value use cases.