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Colony
YC W27Waterloo, CA · Founded 2026 · 3 employees · 2 known investors
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Colony builds fully autonomous long-endurance survey drones that capture survey-grade aerial data over 500+ km in a single flight. The systems are used to inspect linear infrastructure such as pipeline corridors, transmission lines, and highway routes across remote or difficult terrain without refuelling or ground control points.
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (W27)
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Rad El GharbiFounder/CEOFounder and CEO of Colony, which builds autonomous long-endurance survey drones for inspecting linear infrastructure. He previously worked as a particle physicist at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center on dark matter and neutrino research, began working with Harvard's Particle Physics and Cosmology lab at age 17, and served as an infantryman in the Canadian Armed Forces.
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Igor MartinsFounder/CTOIgor Martins is the Founder and CTO of Colony (YC W27), where he leads development of autonomous long-range VTOL aircraft for aerial data acquisition. Originally from Brazil, he is a Mechatronics Engineering student at the University of Waterloo and previously worked on automated manufacturing and production systems at Musashi Seimitsu, Magna, and Angstrom Fiber, and was a member of the Waterloo Rocketry Design Team.
Investors · 2
Frequently asked questions
- What does Colony do?
- Colony builds fully autonomous long-endurance survey drones that capture survey-grade aerial data over 500+ km in a single flight. The systems are used to inspect linear infrastructure such as pipeline corridors, transmission lines, and highway routes across remote or difficult terrain without refuelling or ground control points.
- Who are Colony's investors?
- Colony's investors include Barn Ventures, Y Combinator.
- Where is Colony headquartered?
- Colony is headquartered in Waterloo, CA.