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An industrial-inspection-drone startup a day keeps the FOMO away.
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Startup of the Year: Daily Dealflow
most promising and innovative startups from around the world.
#DailyDealflow newsletter delivers one seed-stage startup a day, every work day
and is presented by Silicon Valley Bank. |
Apellix
At Apellix, we create aerial robotic systems that fly up to a structure, contact it, and do work.
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At Apellix, we:
• create enormous value for our customers (saving Billions)
• reduce risk (catastrophic and other), and
• move workers from harm’s way (saving lives)
We do this with aerial robotic systems that fly up to a structure, contact it, and do work. Our first products are in the area of nondestructive testing where we ensure the structural integrity and estimated remaining asset life of refineries, cargo ships and aircraft carriers, aboveground storage tanks, bridges, and more.
Most people are unaware that there is a war going on, unseen but very real. This enemy fells bridges, sinks ships, sparks fires, and nearly brought down the Statue of Liberty. Direct costs of corrosion is 3.6% of the US GDP. Think about that for a minute, it’s so large and so pervasive that it is not measured in millions of dollars or billions of dollars but as a percent of the GDP.
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What Problem Are They Solving?
Apellix designs and builds aerial robots (drones) that autonomously perform work on elevated structures that is otherwise dangerous, expensive and time consuming for humans to perform. We perform physical contact-based non-destructive tests (NDT) on structures to determine structural integrity, maintenance needs, and useful life. In addition to NDT, we are developing an autonomous cleaning and coating (painting) application using industrial 3300 psi airless spray systems.
Our aerial robots do what drones are not designed to do -- fly slow and precise, and even intentionally come in contact with structures -- performing dangerous tasks while keeping workers safely on the ground. Imagine an aerial robot capable of working all day without changing batteries or causing excessive pilot fatigue. One worker operating a computer (with minimal piloting skills) can do the work of 20 employees using cranes, scaffolding, or suspended from ropes.
As the Apellix aircraft is autonomously testing the integrity of steel on an elevated structure, the pilot is provided real time test results through a customizable user interface. Not only does the robot record each date-stamped test result, but it is also recording environmental conditions, project information, aircraft operational information, and geo-spatial data. The user has the ability to “see” a map of the structure, indicating the location, time and result of each test. In short, we bring the science of the factory to the job site.
We stand out in a very new industry because we have built our solution around actual industrial needs, not as an extension of existing video inspection or surveying work. We have engineered our solutions to operate safely in tight, challenging environments where GPS, compass and barometer are often compromised. We have developed proprietary sensor technology to integrate intelligence from a dozen different sensors into our autonomous flight control system.
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What's Innovative About Their Solution?
Our initial patented products are our contact-based measurement aerial robotic systems, utilizing "drones" as the lift mechanism, robotic arms, and robotic arm "end effectors". The Apellix platform allow us to fly up to 100 meters in the air and, under full computer control, physically touch a structure to perform non-destructive and other tests. Our beta products including coating and cleaning systems that can paint a structure using a 3,300 psi spray paint system. Apellix uses computer-controlled flight to precisely control drones providing the industry with a tool that can perform the dirty, dangerous and expensive work while keeping employees safely on the ground.
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📍 Location
Jacksonville, Florida
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⚙️ Product Stage
Alpha—Private
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🏭 Industries
Energy Tech, Robotics, SaaS
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 Fundraising Status
Actively raising
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 Total Funding Range
$500k-$1.5M
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Traction
We now have contracts with major Oil & Gas companies and are a small services company where we are doing real work proving our systems and turning these paid pilots jobs into customers whom lease our systems.
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Big Wins
Pilots with GP (Oil & Gas), Georgia Pacific (Paper & Pulp Mfg)
2017 National Association of Corrosion Engineers Innovation of the year
Winners of AUTOMATE 2017 business pitch ($10,000 cash from GE Ventures)
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Contact the Founder:
Bob Dahlstrom
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