Carbonix inks five-year to deal with RFS and ANU for drones to tackle early bushfire detection

Sydney firm Carbonix started out making tech for America’s Cup sailing boats, but a pivot to bushfire drones has seen it raise $6.3m and sign a major deal.

Flight control software specialist and leader of Ardupilot project, Andrew Trigell, Drone company Carbonix founder and CTO Dario Valenza, and Rowan Watkins, Pilot and Regulatory Specialist ANU.

A new five-year drone project is set to help with the early detection of bushfires, with Sydney-based drone manufacturer Carbonix selected by Australian National University in a tender process to supply endurance drones to the ACT Rural Fire Service.

Carbonix was founded in 2012 by America’s Cup veteran Dario Valenza, who used high-end composite structures to produce world championship winning sail boats, and soon realised its tech could apply to drones.

In August, Carbonix raised $6.3m in a round led by ASX-listed defence aerospace manufacturer Quickstep, and Mr Valenza said the company was eyeing a major Series A capital raise next year.

Earlier this year Carbonix also announced a major deal with electricity supplier Ausgrid to use Carbonix drones to monitor its power network.

“The R&D has been very capital intensive,” Mr Valenza said.

“We completed our last funding round in August which has covered that, and we have way more demand than we can possible meet. So we have to be ­focused on customers where there are broad applications, and then we will look to raise funds to scale more rapidly and access more markets sooner.”

Drone company Carbonix founder and CTO Dario Valenza, Flight control software specialist and leader of Ardupilot project, Andrew Trigell and Rural Fire Service (RFS) representative Rohan.

Mr Valenza said his company would now work closely with ANU to evaluate autonomous scout drones for bushfire ignition detection, with Carbonix’s drones capable of flying for up to 10 hours at a time.

“Previously you could fly a helicopter or a manned aircraft but the costs associated with that can be enormous, along with the carbon footprint, the safety requirements and the amount of kerosene you go through, it‘s just not practical,” he said.

“Our drones have proven their capabilities and we can offer a wide area of coverage at a relatively low cost, and they’re ­reliable.”

Carbonix CEO Stephen Pearce said the multi-year project would hopefully mitigate bushfire impact on communities and the environment by identifying bushfires at an early stage.

“We are pleased to provide ANU with our unique Drone-as-a-Service model, which aims at overcoming barriers to entry by removing pain points associated with adopting aerial data solutions,” he said.

“We offer a bundled package on a subscription basis that includes the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system and payload, training, maintenance and upgrades, compliance, even insurance, thus providing a turnkey solution to ANU.”