Who founded Drone Deploy?

Drone Deploy was founded by Mike Winn, Nick Pilkington, Jono Millin in 2013.

Who are Drone Deploy's investors?

Drone Deploy's investors include AirTree Ventures, AngelPad, Bessemer Venture Partners, DCVC (Data Collective), DRONE FUND, Emergence Capital Partners, Energize Capital, Frontline Ventures and 4 more.

Where is Drone Deploy headquartered?

Drone Deploy is headquartered in San Francisco, US.

Drone Deploy

San Francisco, US · Founded 2013 · 397 employees on LinkedIn · 12 known investors

Find your way into Drone Deploy

769 people in our graph share verified history with the Drone Deploy team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Wesley Chanunlockedknows Jono Millin · together at Google (overlapped)

×8knows the team · via University of Cambridge

knows the team · via NVIDIA

×2knows the team · via Drone Deploy

Acquisition announced by Procore July 2026 · $845M (Approximately $845M in cash, subject to customary adjustments; expected to close later in 2026) · source ↗

DroneDeploy provides a robotics and AI platform used for data collection and site intelligence across construction, energy, infrastructure, and agriculture. The platform integrates aerial drones, ground robots, and AI to help field teams digitize and monitor job sites across 180 countries.

AgTech AI & Machine Learning Climate Tech Construction Tech Impact & Social Good Robotics

Deal analysis

DroneDeploy × Procore: who got the money home
An estimated liquidation waterfall of the $845m all-cash exit: every class converted — seed money made ~33x, founders took ~$127m, and the 2025 insider round returned ~1.4x in ten months.
Read the analysis →

Founders & leadership

Drone Deploy was founded in 2013 by Mike Winn, Nick Pilkington, and Jono Millin.

Mike Winn in 𝕏CEO & Co-FounderMike Winn is CEO and co-founder of DroneDeploy, which he started in 2013 with two childhood friends from South Africa and led through its 2026 sale to Procore. The idea grew out of anti-poaching drone work in Kruger National Park; he studied economics and applied mathematics at Rhodes University and worked at Google before founding the company.

Nick Pilkington in 𝕏CTO & Co-FounderNick Pilkington is CTO and co-founder of DroneDeploy. He grew up in South Africa with his two co-founders and holds a PhD in machine learning from the University of Cambridge, along with an MPhil in natural language processing and a BSc in computer science and applied mathematics.

Jono Millin in 𝕏Chief Data Officer & Co-FounderJono Millin is Chief Data Officer and co-founder of DroneDeploy. Before starting the company in 2013 he pursued a PhD in machine learning at the University of Edinburgh, following an MSc in artificial intelligence and a BSc in computer science and applied mathematics.

Investors · 12

AirTree VenturesSydney · $132K – $16.5M

AngelPadSan Francisco · $120K

Bessemer Venture PartnersRedwood City · $5M – $100M

DCVC (Data Collective)Palo Alto · $5M – $25M

DRONE FUNDTokyo

Emergence Capital PartnersSan Francisco · $500K – $10M

Energize CapitalChicago · $10M – $20M

Frontline VenturesSan Francisco · $540K – $3.2M

High AlphaIndianapolis

Scale Venture PartnersSan Francisco · $5M – $25M

Uncork CapitalSan Francisco · $3M – $5M

Winklevoss CapitalNew York · $100K – $5M

Founder mafia

The Drone Deploy mafia →

6 people who came through Drone Deploy went on to found or lead other companies.

Dan RasmusonIndividual ContributorFounded Humata +1 James CameronInvestor & Board ObserverFounded Bipsync Dan ZitoDirector of EngineeringFounded StructionSite Jesse WilliamsMarketing ConsultantFounded Jozu Manu SharmaProduct ManagerFounded Labelbox Philip LorenzoSenior Director of Product - AI and RoboticsFounded StructionSite

Competitors · 1

by search overlap

DJI (大疆创新)1482 shared keywordsDJI is a hardware manufacturer that designs and sells drones, handheld cameras, and stabilizers for consumers and content creators. The company operates a direct-to-consumer e-commerce store with local warehouse fulfillment in Mexico.

Companies competing with Drone Deploy for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.

In the news

Procore to Acquire DroneDeploy for $845Mdronedeploy.com · Jul 2026

Frequently asked questions

What does Drone Deploy do?: DroneDeploy provides a robotics and AI platform used for data collection and site intelligence across construction, energy, infrastructure, and agriculture. The platform integrates aerial drones, ground robots, and AI to help field teams digitize and monitor job sites across 180 countries.
Who founded Drone Deploy?: Drone Deploy was founded by Mike Winn, Nick Pilkington, Jono Millin in 2013.
Who are Drone Deploy's investors?: Drone Deploy's investors include AirTree Ventures, AngelPad, Bessemer Venture Partners, DCVC (Data Collective), DRONE FUND, Emergence Capital Partners, Energize Capital, Frontline Ventures and 4 more.
Where is Drone Deploy headquartered?: Drone Deploy is headquartered in San Francisco, US.