PrecisionHawk lands $32 million in funding

The holiday season is looking especially merry and bright for the folks over at PrecisionHawk, which just announced a $32 million funding round with investment from Millennium Technology Value Partners, Third Point Ventures, Eastward Capital Partners, and others.

PrecisionHawk, which makes flight software to help in drone-based data collection, said it would use the money to further develop PrecisionAnalytics, the company’s A.I.-powered aerial data analytics platform.

PrecisionHawk added that it would also use some money to invest in sales and service operations.

PrecisionHawk said its clients include five of the top 10 utility companies and the “Big Six” providers of seed and agricultural chemicals, for projects such as managing asset inventory and measuring crop health.

The company also had another big win last year when DJI announced it would drop AirMap, replacing it with PrecisionHawk (a strong AirMap competitor) as its new provider of airspace data in North America. PrecisionHawk now provides the geofencing technology behind DJI’s drones when it comes to drone flights near airports (drone geofencing is a technology pioneered by DJI that creates a virtual “fence” around areas where it doesn’t want its drones flying).

PrecisionHawk was founded in 2010 and has been active not just in landing high-profile clients to use its software, but also in taking a strong foothold in the political landscape.

PrecisionHawk’s CEO Michael Chasen was recently appointed by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao to serve as the Chairman for the Drone Advisory Committee (DAC).

The $32 million funding round isn’t the first big announcement for PrecisionHawk. Last year, the company raised an even bigger $75 million.