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About
Mike Winn is the co-founder and CEO of DroneDeploy, the reality-capture platform Procore agreed to acquire for about $845 million in cash in July 2026. Raised in South Africa, he studied economics and applied math at Rhodes University, worked at Google, and co-founded the carpooling service Zoomatelo before starting DroneDeploy in 2013 with Rhodes friends Nick Pilkington and Jono Millin — inspired by drone anti-poaching patrols in Kruger National Park — and growing it through AngelPad to 3 million jobsites across 180 countries.
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 →
Beyond investing
- Founded
- Co-founded DroneDeploy in 2013 through the AngelPad accelerator, inspired by how hard it was for Kruger National Park's ~650 rangers to patrol 7,500 square miles — the founders wanted drones flyable from a phone.
- Education
- Studied economics and applied mathematics at Rhodes University, where the three DroneDeploy co-founders met.
- More
- Worked on sales and engineering teams at Google and co-founded the carpooling web service Zoomatelo before DroneDeploy. Announced DroneDeploy had hit break-even in September 2025 alongside a strategic $15M round, then agreed to sell to Procore for ~$845M in July 2026 — about 5x the ~$160M the company raised.
Mentioned above: the Google mafia → · the Rhodes University mafia →
From forbes.com · procore.com · dronedeploy.com — common ground for a warm intro.
Founder at Drone Deploy
Intro paths
In turn, Mike can intro founders to Drone Deploy's investors below.
Drone Deploy's investors · 14
Co-founders at Drone Deploy
Podcasts & interviews
featuring Mike WinnDrone Deploy with Mike Winn
Kashmir World Foundation
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Mike Winn?
- Mike Winn is the co-founder and CEO of DroneDeploy, the reality-capture platform Procore agreed to acquire for about $845 million in cash in July 2026. Raised in South Africa, he studied economics and applied math at Rhodes University, worked at Google, and co-founded the carpooling service Zoomatelo before starting DroneDeploy in 2013 with Rhodes friends Nick Pilkington and Jono Millin — inspired by drone anti-poaching patrols in Kruger National Park — and growing it through AngelPad to 3 million jobsites across 180 countries.
- Where does Mike Winn work?
- Mike Winn is Founder of Drone Deploy.
- What companies did Mike Winn found?
- Mike Winn founded Drone Deploy.
- What podcasts and interviews feature Mike Winn?
- Tracked appearances include "Drone Deploy with Mike Winn".
Founder mafias
Google mafia1,712
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Rhodes University mafia10
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
About this profile. Compiled from public sources — Drone Deploy's own website, press coverage and public professional profiles — and summarised by Fundraising Fox; every fact is kept with where it came from. Spotted an error, or would rather not be listed? Email privacy@fundraisingfox.com · How we build profiles · Your rights