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Commercial drone company Kespry raises $16 million

Menlo Park, California-based Kespry, a company that designs automated drone systems for commercial use, has closed a $16 million Series B equity financing round. The funding includes investments from DCM Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners, along with Spectrum 28, H. Barton Asset Management (an asset management company led by former NFL star Harris Barton), Rothenberg Ventures, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

Kespry says it will be using the funds to hire more engineering and service personnel.

Kespry provides a full-stack automated and integrated drone system. Companies use Kespry drones to collect, analyze and share aerial information. Kespry has also partnered with Nvidia on a deep-learning module that will enable Kespry drones to automatically identify and track specific objects, like construction equipment and materials, says the company.

Goldman Sachs projects commercial drones to be the fastest-growing portion of the global drone market, with over $20.6 billion in projected sales over the next five years.

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