JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s Percepto, which uses drones and robots to monitor and inspect industrial sites, said on Monday it had received a waiver from U.S. federal regulators for its systems and that it raised $67 million in a private funding round.
Heavy industry confronts major challenges to operate efficiently, maintain reliable critical infrastructure, meet high productivity expectations, and increase safety levels – all in the face of complex, hazardous and often aging infrastructure assets.
Percepto said it helps industrial companies meet challenges such as maintaining reliable critical infrastructure, meeting high productivity expectations, and increasing safety levels through real-time visibility into their facility’s infrastructure integrity, and finding failures before they escalate into incidents.
It said it received a nationwide Beyond Line of Sight waiver from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, allowing the company to provide any U.S. critical infrastructure site with remotely-operated automated drones without the need for site specific approvals from the FAA.
Percepto said this waiver removes logistical and cost barriers, such as the need for radars or people on the ground, fuelling the adoption of autonomous drone technology.
The equity and debt funding round was led by Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), alongside new investors Zimmer Partners and one of the largest U.S. energy companies. Existing investors U.S. Venture Partners, Delek US Holdings, Atento Capital, Spider Capital and Arkin Holdings also participated.
In total, Percepto has raised $120 million.
(Reporting by Steven Scheer; editing by David Evans)
