Edgybees, a Californian startup offering augmented reality solutions for “high speed” platforms like drones and cars, has won a $5.5 million Seed funding round. The investment was raised from Motorola Solutions Venture Capital, Verizon Ventures, OurCrowd, 8VC, NFX and Aspect Ventures.
The round, which comes two years after Edgybees’ foundation, allows it to pivot into verticals including defense, smart cities, automotive and broadcasting. That will greatly broaden the customer base for Edgybees’ existing AR solution, with which developers can layer 3D visuals over fast-moving cameras.
Edgybees was founded by Menashe Haskin, a former Amazon Prime Air Israel employee, alongside Adam Kaplan and Nitay Megides. The Palo Alto trio’s tech debuted at an AR drone racing game in 2017. Soon thereafter it released First Response, a drone-flying app for emergency responders.
The solution was first used last September, in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma’s devastating rampage through Florida. Its most recent deployment came amid wildfires that swept through northern California a month later.
“What started as technology powering a racing game is now saving lives around the world,” said co-founder and CEO Kaplan. The overwhelming response by commercial and industrial drone users looking to leverage AR, and partner with us in the fields of fire, public safety, and search and rescue has been amazing, and we can’t wait to expand the next set of drone applications into new markets.”