TimesTech (时代星光), a developer of industrial UAVs, has announced a Series A+ round of funding valued at tens of millions of yuan, backed by Shanghai Tianyan.
The investor said it poured money into the Chengdu-based firm mainly because of its unique advantages in industrial UAV and its layout in military-grade drones, thanks to its years of experience gained in wireless communication and AI.
The latest round came more than a year after the Series A funding in March last year, which was then led by Lesso, a venture fund in southern China’s Guangdong, with a post-money valuation of hundreds of millions of yuan.
Several of TimesTech’s drone models used for low-altitude airspace have been used for military purposes. Proceeds from Series A+ will go toward efforts to strengthen R&D on military-facing drones and an AI-powered land-air collaboration system, said Chen Jian, marketing director of TimesTech.
Founded in October 2003, the company started out making wireless image transmission products, which were deployed to provide support for the return journey of Shenzhou No. 6 Spacecraft as well as security services for Beijing Olympics.
The firm ventured into industrial drone in 2015, as a result of its participation in flying a drone to carry pilot cable across a river. It then rolled out “Wolf Warrior” series multicopter industrial drones that it says are fit for operation in all kinds of inclement weather. The series have entered mass production.
According to the company, its drones took part in hundreds of emergency rescue and evacuation operations, responding to blast, mudslide, earthquake, wildfire and other contigencies.
TimesTech launched what it calls the world’s first smart vehicle-mounted collaborative UAV platform in 2022, combining an array of functions like smart airstrip, remote control, data processing, fleet control, satellite communication and video conference.
The platform enables industrial, big-capacity drones to take off from and land on a vehicle-mounted, mobile airstrip. This solves the range problem confronting drones and eliminates the geographical limitations for long-haul flights.
Besides, it also can control the drone, process digital images, track objects via an in-vehicle console. What’s more, the platform is capable of generating panoramic images, orthophotos and 3D models, lowering the intensity and difficulty for frontline security patrol.
