A Remotely Operated Aerial Vehicle (ROAV) inspection and survey company, Cyberhawk, is targeting expansion following an agreement on a new £2 million funding package from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks’ Growth Finance team.
Cyberhawk said the funding will enable it to accelerate growth, create jobs, develop its products and services and expand its global footprint, ensuring the company continues to lead the commercial development of the ROAV inspection market.
The company has been carrying out onshore and offshore inspections for oil and gas and wind energy sectors. Last year, Cyberhawk launched a commercial wind turbine blade inspection solution, named iHawk, which has been created to convert drone-captured data into asset management information in the cloud.
In 2014, Cyberhawk inspected Forewind’s meteorological masts at the Dogger Bank offshore wind site, located more than 130 kilometres from the UK coast.
Cyberhawk currently employs around 50 staff, and numbers are expected to increase significantly over coming months as the company further expands its drone and software businesses, the company said.
With North America a key target market for future growth, Cyberhawk also plans to open a Houston office later this year.
Craig Roberts , CEO of Cyberhawk, said: “Capturing images with drones may be considered a relatively simple process in certain market segments, but turning that data into something which is of genuine value to asset managers is the real challenge for the industry. We consider ourselves pioneers in the conversion of drone-captured data into actionable management information and have delivered multiple projects, in volume, to each of our key markets.”
Nick Edgar , Senior Director, Growth Finance at Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks, said: “Cyberhawk’s management team has built successfully on the firm’s global track record of success in oil and gas by extending its services into other sectors such as utilities and renewables. There is clearly further potential for growth via the strong relationships which the company has already established in the rail industry.
“With plans also progressing for the firm’s move into the US market, we look forward to supporting Cyberhawk in this latest expansion phase for the business.”