Flyability

Flyability SA is a Swiss drone manufacturer that develops collision-tolerant unmanned aerial vehicles for inspecting confined and hazardous indoor spaces. Its Elios product line — currently led by the Elios 3, with the earlier Elios 1 and Elios 2 still documented in its knowledge base — pairs a protective cage with a proprietary collision-tolerant flight algorithm, a modular payload bay and autonomous capabilities, enabling remote visual inspection, 3D mapping and surveying inside assets such as power plant boilers, tanks, vessels, ballasts, fluid catalytic crackers and sewers.

Around the aircraft, the company sells accessories and software: a Tether Power Unit for continuous power, high-capacity batteries advertised as adding up to 50% more flight time, an ultrasonic-testing (UT) payload for remote thickness measurement (A-scans), a radiation survey meter payload (Elios 3 RAD), a flammable gas sensor, the Inspector and Inspector Online desktop tools, a range extender, and Flyability Cloud for data sharing and collaboration. Third-party integrations include FARO Connect and WinCan. The company states it does not sell inspection services itself; its in-house pilot team is used mainly for training, demonstrations and proofs of concept. Its products are not ATEX, Ex-rated or intrinsically safe, but the company notes they are used in cleaned and inerted environments, including nitrogen-inerted spaces.

Flyability positions the Elios 3 as a platform for digitizing industrial inspection across energy, wastewater, mining, maritime, oil and gas, nuclear, cement and infrastructure sectors, with the stated aim of removing the need for scaffolding and confined-space entry.

Founding story

Flyability SA was founded in 2014 as a spin-off from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and its Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, with the stated goal of keeping humans out of dangerous jobs. CEO Patrick Thévoz holds a Master's in robotics from EPFL; CTO Adrien Briod holds an MSc in robotics from EPFL and Harvard and a PhD at EPFL's Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, where he pioneered and patented methods for stabilizing drones in cluttered spaces that became the basis of the company's collision-tolerant drones.

Business model

Flyability manufactures and sells drones, payloads and accessories to industrial end users, complemented by software (Inspector, Inspector Online, Flyability Cloud) and by training, demonstration and maintenance support. It explicitly does not provide inspection services.

Sales of drone hardware, payloads and accessories, together with software and cloud data-management products, sold directly and through a reseller/distributor network.

Traction

The company reports more than 1,450 customers worldwide, 2,750+ Elios drones deployed in 50+ countries, customers across 68 countries and distributors across 27 countries, and over 10 years of research and development. At the time of its $11M round it reported more than 350 customers and 500+ drones in the field. Named users and partners include Dow, Saudi Aramco, Shell and CAN-USA, Jaguar Land Rover, Holcim North America, Samsung Electronics (MOU), Bureau Veritas, RINA, ABS, Mirion Technologies, FARO Technologies, WinCan and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

Latest developments

Recent announcements include the launch of the Tether Power Unit and high-capacity batteries for the Elios 3, a UT probe payload and flammable gas sensor, Smart Return-to-Home, colorization for Elios 3 data, completion of a SOC 2 Type II examination for its cloud product, a collaboration with Bureau Veritas, an Elios 3 training center opened by Modern Intech, exploration of the technology by the Singapore Maritime and Port Authority, and a win at the 2026 Tech Tour Growth Awards.