4 hours ago
Today’s drones — also known as unmanned aerial vehicles — have significantly evolved from defense-related origins to become much more versatile and serve a greater variety of customer segments. Drones are now used by consumers, filmmakers, scientists, retail and shipping companies, and more. Cities and first responders have emerged as a significant market for drones, with some experts predicting that almost every U.S. law enforcement agency will eventually utilize them. First responders like firefighters, law enforcement, and emergency medical personnel use drones for first responders (DFR) to gain critical information about a developing situation before they arrive.
DFRs are typically launched after the dispatch team receives an emergency call, and are tasked with traveling quickly to the destination, providing an aerial view of a situation, and transmitting information back to the first responder team that is en route. Speed and accuracy make this information invaluable in helping the first responder team determine the proper strategy. This is why we’re excited to announce our investment in Paladin, which offers a modular solution that includes hardware, software and a data management platform.
Based in Houston, Texas, Paladin was founded in 2018 by CEO Divy Shrivastava. After a friend’s home was lost to a fire, he learned from a first responder that a fire can double in size in less than a minute — making every second critical. Realizing that first responders often lack critical information when they arrive on the scene, Divy formed Paladin to help first responders increase their situational awareness, operate more effectively, and save lives by deploying state-of-the-art LTE-enabled drone technology in response to 911 calls.
Paladin’s current products include Watchtower, an all-in-one DFR software platform that enables remote operation of a drone, offering video streaming and tools like flight logging. Paladin also makes its own Knighthawk drone, which has a 55-minute flight time and utilizes an LTE connection to travel with more ease than radio-controlled drones inside the 3-mile radius limits for beyond-visual-line-of-sight missions as set by the Federal Aviation Administration. While radio-controlled drones typically involve stationing the remote pilot in command (known as RPIC) on a rooftop, utilizing LTE means that the RPIC can be in any location with cellular connectivity. In addition, the new Paladin EXT2 product integrates with various drone platforms, offering enhanced autonomy and unlimited operating range due to LTE connectivity.
Paladin’s products can flexibly meet the needs of first responder teams, whether they have existing drones they need to manage, or they are looking to expand the range of their drone operations with the company’s technology. Paladin is designed to help first responder teams from cities with populations as small as 50,000 or as large as 500,000 or more.
Toyota Ventures is proud to support the Paladin team by participating in the company’s $5.2 million seed round led by Gradient Ventures, with participation from Khosla Ventures, 1517, and others.
Visit Paladin’s website or Toyota Ventures portfolio page to learn more.