Paladin

Paladin (also referred to as Paladin Drones) builds autonomous drones and accompanying software that dispatch aerial units to emergency incidents so that responders have live overhead views before ground units arrive. When a 911 call is received, a drone launches automatically from a department dock, flies to the incident location while streaming live data to dispatch and responding units, provides live aerial and thermal views on scene, and then returns autonomously to its dock to recharge. The company positions the system as infrastructure usable by departments of any city size, integrating with dispatch workflows.

The product line includes the Knighthawk drone (Knighthawk 2.0 announced in February 2026), the Watchtower software platform, and Paladin EXT. Deployments described on the company site include police departments in Ferguson, MO; Forest Park, GA; Elizabeth, NJ; and Burlington, NC, as well as Murrells Inlet Fire Department in South Carolina, covering fire, EMS and search operations. As of February 2026 the company reported working with more than 100 departments across 25 states, with about 40 employees, most based in Houston.

Founding story

Founder Divy (Divyaditya) Shrivastava grew up in a small town north of Columbus, Ohio, and began building robots as a boy. In 2016, shortly before he was to begin engineering studies at the University of California, Berkeley, a close friend's house burned down, an event that affected the community. Speaking with the local fire chief and fire marshal, he learned that a fire can double in size every 30 seconds and that first responders typically arrive with limited information because 911 callers are panicked or untrained in assessing a scene; in his friend's case, the caller gave an address across town. After a second fire destroyed a campus church during his first year at Berkeley, he set out to found Paladin with the mission of sending autonomous drones to 911 calls. The company was formally founded in 2018 while he was a Berkeley student; he later dropped out and moved to Houston.

Business model

Paladin sells its drone-as-first-responder system, including hardware docks, drones and the Watchtower software platform, to public safety agencies such as police and fire departments, positioning deployment as plug-and-play so departments can add aerial capability without building complex aviation programs, and providing 24/7 public safety support.

Traction

Company-reported figures include more than 200,000 flights across active deployments, a 47-second average aerial response time, drones on scene before ground units in 72% of incidents, and 11% of daily 911 calls resolved without officer dispatch. Elizabeth PD, NJ is cited as scaling from a single drone to a fully staffed 24/7 operation with 13+ weekly arrests through DFR deployments. As of February 2026 the company reported more than 100 departments in 25 states and about 40 employees.

Latest developments

In February 2026, Paladin debuted the Knighthawk 2.0, developed in partnership with Portuguese drone manufacturer Beyond Vision, at the World Defense Show in Saudi Arabia; the model is NDAA-compliant, has an improved sensor suite with optical zoom and a top speed of more than 40 mph. In July 2026 the company introduced Paladin Relay as part of Watchtower 2.15, enabling switching between cellular and radio frequency drone communication modes.