Overwatch Imaging, an Oregon venture that makes airborne imaging systems for piloted aircraft and drones, has closed on an $11.15 million investment round led by Squadra Ventures and Shield Capital.
Other participants in the round include the Portland Seed Fund and two strategic investors, L3Harris and Bridger Aerospace.
Overwatch said the fresh funding will be used to accelerate the company’s growth and enhance its automation and image analytics software. The company plans to hire 15 to 20 more engineers and business development professionals this year.
Founded in 2016, the Hood River, Ore.-based startup specializes in precision imaging systems equipped with onboard AI software. The dual-use systems can be used for defense applications as well as for civilian applications including search-and-rescue, wildfire mapping, disaster response and infrastructure inspections.
Overwatch Imaging is the leading provider of aerial wildland fire map data to the U.S. Forest Service, and the primary provider of maritime search payloads to the European Maritime Safety Agency’s Remotely Piloted Aircraft System program. The company’s imaging systems have been used on 12 types of piloted aircraft and 10 drone models, with daily operations in the U.S., Europe and Australia.
“We have extremely ambitious growth goals for our company and are committed to making a major positive impact in missions that matter around the world,” Overwatch Imaging CEO Greg Davis said today in a news release. “Our highly respected group of investors brings not only capital to accelerate our growth, but also amazing experience and valuable networks. I look forward to working closely with them as we quickly scale our company to support the brave men and women worldwide who rely on intelligence from our systems.”
Squandra Ventures managing partner Guy Filippelli and Shield Capital managing partner Raj Shah will join Tenax Aerospace President Jim Linder and Overwatch Imaging’s co-founders, Greg Davis and Nick Anderson, on the company’s board of directors. Tenax Aerospace is one of the company’s biggest customers and invested in the company in 2019.
