This drone startup raised $16M in Series A funding

Grays Ferry-based drone startup Exyn Technologies just closed on its Series A funding round, raising $16 million that the company said will go toward expanding its global reach and accelerating its technology development.

Exyn Technologies, a spinout of Penn’s GRASP Lab, uses drones and ground-based robots to collect data from places where maps and GPS don’t exist.

Last year, the team sent a drone down to scour the walls of a Latin American mine so they could build 3D models of the mine’s structure and spot possible safety risks using the company’s exynAI software.

The longterm objective is to turn the mapping offering into a standalone product that can be shipped to mines and used by mining companies themselves, CEO Nader Elm told Technical.ly Philly last year.

Exyn announced Friday that it closed the funding round, which was led by London-based investment firm Centricus, with Yamaha Motors Ventures, U.S. intelligence community venture arm In-Q-Tel, Corecam Family Office, and Red and Blue Ventures newly participating, and IP Group Plc reinvesting.

“We see significant potential for Exyn’s technology to improve efficiencies in sectors including mining and look forward to supporting Exyn’s next phase of growth,” a Centricus spokesperson said of the investment.

To date, Exyn has raised $20 million. The company said the new flush of capital will go toward commercial growth, expanding its global reach and developing offerings for customers in new industries.

The company will also work on accelerating its tech development to “bring to market advanced swarming capabilities and move its autonomy intelligence to ground-based robots,” it said in a statement Friday.

“Exyn has demonstrated the potential to revolutionize efficiency, increase productivity, and dramatically reduce human exposure to unsafe environments,” Elm said. “And that’s just one application. We are only beginning to scratch the surface of how impactful true autonomy will be.”