Australian drone company raises $US91 million to string high voltage power lines across the world

Infravision, an Australian-founded company that is using aerial robotics to transform how power grids are built and maintained, has raised $US91 million to accelerate the global deployment of its drone-based power line stringing system.

The company was founded in Australia in 2018 by Cameron Van Der Berg, a robotics engineer specialising in high-voltage electric power systems, and Chris Cox, a military veteran with extensive operational experience.

Infravision is also an alumnus of EnergyLab, Australia’s leading incubator and accelerator of clean energy and climate focused start-ups.

Infravision has since moved its headquarters to Austin, Texas, and has already delivered more than 40 major projects across four countries, including two projects for Powerlink in Queensland, one of which links the Genex renewable hub, and the other the Aldoga solar project.

The company says its aerial robotic systems can reduce the time taken to string high voltage power down to a matter of days, rather than weeks.

For example, Infravision recently completed a stringing operation over a 6-lane road in Toronto, Canada, which only required traffic to be stopped for 5 minutes.

Having already established itself and proven its technology in Australia, Infravision is now looking to expand its North American operations.

To do so, the company said its $US91 million Series B capital raise had attracted investors including Singapore’s GIC, the ACT-based Activate Capital, and Hitachi Ventures, as well as existing investor Energy Impact Partners.

The new funding will specifically help to accelerate the deployment of Infravision’s TX System, the latest iteration of the which brings helicopter-level capabilities into a daily-use, truck-based fleet vehicle.

“Infravision’s aerial robotics system has been proven on some of the largest and most complex power line projects in the world, including Powerlink Genex in Australia and emergency response deployments with PG&E in California,” Van Der Berg said in a statement.

“This investment will help us scale to provide a faster, safer, and more cost-effective way to meet surging electricity demand as the world races to double grid infrastructure by 2040.”

Swap Shah, partner at Energy Impact Partners, said modern transmission infrastructure is the foundation of the global energy transition

“Infravision is solving one of the toughest challenges in that equation – how to scale grid buildout safely, affordably, and at the pace required to meet electrification, AI, and industrial growth,” he said.

If you would like to join more than 27,200 others and get the latest clean energy news delivered straight to your inbox, for free, please click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.