Latvia-based Aerones was founded in 2015 by Dainis Kruze (CEO) & Janis Putrams, with friendly support from Andris Dambis. The company started with a focus on heavy-load drones, before pivoting to (non-drone) remotely-operated maintenance robots in 2019. “Aerones robots clean & inspect wind turbines so humans don’t have to” (note: wind turbines have a typical lifespan of 20 years, but better maintenance can prolong this). One issue you run into with wind turbines is (among others) that they tend to leak oil, which corrodes blades, increases wind resistance & pollutes the ground below. Aerones robots clean towers & blades by blasting them with a liquid detergent, while funnels beneath (the blades) collect the mucked-up liquid for reuse. The robots also inspect the turbines with cameras & ultrasound scanners. Aerones claims it robots can “operate in varied weather conditions & service more turbines per day” (without, obviously, putting people at risk). As a services company, Aerones is called upon & paid per job. Around 30 robots are currently in use, with 5k+ turbines cleaned & inspected to date across 19 countries (for context, there are more than 72k wind turbines in the US alone). It’s worth noting that the global wind operations & maintenance market is tipped to reach $27.4bn by 2025. “We had to postpone projects last year, because we couldn’t keep up with demand”. Existing customers include Siemens, Vestas, NextEra & Enel. The new funding will be used to bolster the company’s 210-strong headcount with hires across sales, technology, & robot servicing. Currently operating in North America, Europe & South America, Aerones now also eyes African & Australian markets <Source: Business Insider>
