As industries increasingly demand efficiency and safety gains, Sees.ai is emerging as a key player in autonomous drone technology for infrastructure inspection.
The Chichester-based startup, founded in 2018 by John McKenna and Damien Charveriat, has just closed a £3.65 million funding round led by Boeing, alongside Sustainable Future Ventures, Hearst Ventures, Elbow Beach Capital, and WakeUp Capital. This fresh injection will expand the company’s reach beyond the UK into European and international markets, with a focus on clean energy sectors and extensive aerial inspection networks.
Sees.ai is the first UK company authorised by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to conduct routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone flights. The company rides two waves: the drive to lower operational costs through AI-powered automation and the global push to decarbonise energy systems.
The platform features autonomous flight control, collision avoidance, and full vehicle management, allowing drones to execute complex flights, including take-offs and landings, without direct human control. The technology is designed to replace costly and riskier helicopter inspections and reduce the environmental footprint of infrastructure monitoring through safer and lower-emission operations.
One standout deployment is with the UK’s National Grid, which has adopted Sees.ai’s centralised autonomous drone inspections for live power infrastructure, a world-first for large-scale BVLOS operations in such proximity to live sites.
This advantage places Sees.ai ahead of competitors such as Civ Robotics, Percepto, and Cyberhawk Innovations. Their technology addresses the inefficiencies, safety risks, and high costs traditionally associated with powerline and energy infrastructure inspections.
Beyond electricity grids, the platform is also finding applications in offshore wind farm inspections, oil and gas methane monitoring, logistics, and emergency service support.
Plans include multi-site deployments across the UK and Europe, ongoing enhancement of AI capabilities for predictive maintenance, and forging new partnerships with utilities and infrastructure companies worldwide.
