DroneSense’s software platform enables public safety agencies to dispatch drones of any make to emergency response sites and get critical information.HO/The Canadian Press
Ottawa-based Versaterm Inc., which sells software used to manage 911 call systems and other public-safety services, has bought a U.S. startup that enables first responders to send drones into emergency situations.
In the deal announced Wednesday, Versaterm paid more than US$100-million for DroneSense, Inc., a 57-person, 10-year-old Austin-based company. With DroneSense’s software platform, users from centralized sites can dispatch drones of any make to emergency response sites, flying them from web browsers and incorporating the video they generate into investigations.
“Our approach is about fixing problems and identifying problems our customer have today or in the future,” Versaterm chief executive officer Warren Loomis said in an interview. “This technology makes a lot of sense for a number of our customers. When you tie it into the rest of our platform and how it will work, it will deliver a much stronger solution.”
Canada and the U.S. are set to loosen drone operation regulations this year, enabling qualified, trained operators to fly them beyond their visual lines of sight. Transport Canada’s rules are set to go into effect on Nov. 4, while the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is expected to roll out beyond-visual-line-of-sight rules for drones imminently.
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That will make drones more effective tools for centralized emergency services to use them to beat the traffic to provide the first views of accidents, fires or crime scenes, Mr. Loomis said.
“What’s coming around the corner is drone as first responder,” he said, adding that public safety agencies have already used drones to find stranded hikers and human remains. The Ontario Provincial Police have also used drones for road collision investigations – although the police service has also warned civilian drone operators that it’s illegal to operate their own machines near emergency sites.
“We’re excited to grow what we started, bringing advanced flight capabilities, real-time intelligence and unmatched flexibility to the heart of public safety operations,” DroneSense CEO Christopher Eyhorn said in a release Tuesday. He and his management team will be joining Versaterm and continuing to lead the business.
Versaterm has grown into one of Canada’s largest private technology companies since U.S. private equity firm Banneker Partners bought the company in 2020.
Versaterm had spun out of the Royal Canadian Mountain Police 48 years ago to develop computer-aided dispatch and command-and-control systems. The company developed a modest but loyal following among public-safety services and generated less than $30-million in revenues when Banneker bought in.
Since then, the company has made 12 acquisitions including DroneSense, and its revenues recently topped US$100-million. The profitable company had 525 employees and about 1,700 customers around the world prior to the DroneSense deal, which adds more than US$10-million to its revenues and about 1,300 customers, with little overlap. Versaterm paid a combination of cash and equity to buy DroneSense, which has grown without raising capital.
“There will be other acquisitions for sure,” Mr. Loomis said. “We’re hungry for more, and there are a lot of problems to stop.”