Skyports closes Series B with investment from ST Engineering

Skyports has completed the final close on its Series B capital raise. The round attracted new investment from Singapore-based ST Engineering through its venture capital arm, ST Engineering Ventures.

ST Engineering will join as the final investor in Skyports’ Series B round, following the first close in March this year. The addition of the firm to Skyports’ roster of investors brings the total funding to $26.13m. The company noted the “heavily oversubscribed” Series B round highlights confidence in its offering.

Since early 2021, Skyports has worked closely with ST to operate reservoir monitoring and inspection drone services for Singapore’s Public Utilities Board (PUB). The collaboration brings together Skyports’ flight operations capabilities and ST’s drone system solution, DroNet, to accelerate autonomous BVLOS flights across the city-state’s network of reservoirs.

Duncan Walker, CEO of Skyports, said: “The Asian market is a critical area of growth for AAM, and one we are committed to cultivating. Investment from Kanematsu Corporation, and now ST Engineering, demonstrates that our confidence in and focus on this market is well-founded and supported by industry leaders from across the region.

“ST Engineering has been a strong partner of ours for some time now and we are honoured to develop that relationship further with the company joining Skyports as an investor. We look forward to bringing our expertise together to expand our capabilities,” added Walker.

Other Series B investors include Japan-based Kanematsu Corporation, Goodman Group and US-based Venture Capital firm GreenPoint.

Soo Soon Teong, vice president and head of Unmanned Air Systems, ST Engineering, said: “Our investment in Skyports stems from our confidence in the future of Advanced Air Mobility, and the expertise that Skyports has and continues to grow in building towards that future. With even stronger ties now between ST Engineering and Skyports, we will accelerate efforts in marrying our complementary strengths in Advanced Air Mobility and advanced the DroNet solution globally.”