Indiana Entrepreneurs Riding Drone Wave
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThree Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology graduates have devised after-market technology for small unmanned aircraft that is quickly gaining a following. Indianapolis-based DroneRafts LLC develops WaterStrider technology, which allows drones to land and take off on water and uneven surfaces. It is modeled after the insect of the same name and fills a void that co-founders Adam Morrison and David Moser noticed while attending trade shows. During an interview on Inside INdiana Business Television, two of the co-founders said the technology can be used in commercial, non-commercial and even public safety situations.
Morrison said the initial focus was to market the technology to consumers. "It’s primarily going to be people that are interested in filming in places that are difficult to fly from and a lot of those places are the most beautiful places."
DroneRafts raised $24,000 in a Kickstarter campaign to get the project started, which Moser said gives them validation. "Less than 5 percent of Kickstarter campaigns are able to raise more than $20,000, so the fact that we could put together a campaign so quickly, I think, really speaks to the quality of the product."
Morrison said building the company in Indiana has had its benefits. "We see that Indiana has been really advancing and making strides in the tech sector, and drones is a really rapidly-growing part of the tech sector, so we believe that the cost of living here as well as some of the other tax structures and things makes it really beneficial to grow the business here."
Morrison said they are starting to see an increase in demand following the Kickstarter campaign and he is excited to see where the company goes from here.