Aerovel, manufacturer of Flexrotor, the most advanced Group 2 vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft, announced that it has raised $2.5 million in Series B capital. The investment is from undisclosed leaders in aviation. Aerovel is using the funds to accelerate growth, increase production capacity and hire additional engineers.

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Flexrotor small tactical unmanned aerial system (Picture source: Aerovel)

“These funds come at an important time in Aerovel’s growth,” said Ali Dian, CEO of Aerovel. “We are seeing excellent interest in Flexrotor from government and private users, and this investment round will enable us to quickly scale. We plan to raise additional funds later this year and more than double in size.”

Flexrotor is designed to operate with economics that are practical for commercial service while being effective for military applications. It can be used day or night for a diverse range of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance on land and at sea. The aircraft offers an unprecedented combination of small size, large payload/range, economy, autonomy and basing flexibility.

This VTOL (Vertical take-off and landing) small tactical unmanned aerial system (STUAS) can help protect military bases and other important assets by detecting unusual and threatening activity as well as explosive devices. Imagery captured by Flexrotor can be viewed real-time so any actionable threats can be addressed immediately. It can also be used for a variety of other government uses, security operations and law enforcement.

A steerable, zoomable imaging turret on Flexrotor performs search and target tracking with a daylight or infrared camera. Video imagery can be viewed in real-time, and/or in subsequent review on networked displays, Wi-Fi devices and smartphones. If desired, multiple Flexrotor aircraft can be managed from a single operator station so that several sectors can be monitored simultaneously.

Boasting a flight endurance of more than 30 hours and a 100-kilometer communications range, this all-weather aircraft has operated in some of the harshest conditions on earth. Flexrotor is excellent for expeditionary missions.

Needing only a 20’ by 20’ area for launch and recovery, it takes off and lands vertically and easily transitions into horizontal wing-borne flight (Picture source: Aerovel)