Skyqraft's end-to-end cloud AI platform ingests sensor data—images, 3D point clouds, and thermal imaging—to detect up to 10x more grid defects than traditional methods. The platform sits between data collectors, operations, and field teams to help grid owners proactively manage risk, optimise uptime, and reduce maintenance budgets. Skyqraft says it has secured 15% of its home market and holds multi-year contracts with utilities, including E.ON, while running proofs of concept with major power grid owners. The company recently opened an office in San Francisco and is establishing a dedicated US team to support expansion across Europe and North America. An oversubscribed $3.8M financing will be used to advance its AI product, improve speed and quality, and accommodate larger clients. Skyqraft combines drones and machine learning to perform automated, high-volume inspections of electricity powerlines by gathering images and 360° video and detecting risks automatically. The system is designed to be safer, more cost-efficient and more environmentally sustainable than traditional helicopter- and crew-based inspections. Skyqraft says it can reduce a 25 km powerline inspection from two days to three minutes. Its customers include the three largest utility companies in Sweden, which jointly represent 85% of the Swedish market, and the company is negotiating larger-scale pilots in the U.S. with Iberdrola. Skyqraft will use the new capital to further develop its technology and expand operations across Europe and into the U.S. The company was founded in March 2019 and launched in September 2019. Skyqraft provides “smart” infrastructure inspections for power-lines by combining unmanned airplanes with AI to gather images and detect risk automatically. Founded in March 2019 and launched in September 2019, the company uses a uniform aircraft camera setup to streamline data acquisition and emphasizes data handling as a core advantage for its machine learning. Skyqraft says it has a contract with one customer that stopped using helicopters for yearly inspections and is running pilots with Eon, two Swedish municipalities and New York Gas and Electric. The company positions its service as safer, more efficient and more sustainable than traditional helicopter- and person-based inspections. Competitors are mainly quadcopter drone operators or ML-only firms; Skyqraft differentiates by flying its own aircraft and controlling the end-to-end data pipeline. It will use new funding to build further machine learning software, expand its map user interface, grow drone operation teams, and test new apparatus.

Total raised

$7M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Sep 2023