DroneBase
DroneBase is a company.
Financial History
Leadership Team
Key people at DroneBase.
DroneBase is a company.
Key people at DroneBase.
DroneBase, founded in 2014 and headquartered in Santa Monica, California, is a leading provider of intelligent aerial imaging and advanced inspection software for high-value infrastructure in sectors like solar, wind, insurance, construction, real estate, roofing, and critical infrastructure.[1][3][5] The company serves global enterprises across over 70 countries, delivering actionable real-time insights via AI-enabled platforms that analyze data from drones, crewed aircraft, and ground tools to reduce risks, recover revenue, improve build quality, and enhance asset performance and longevity.[1][3][4][5] It solves critical monitoring challenges for renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure operators by offering fast, standardized assessments like the North American Solar Scan (NASS), which rates U.S. solar assets, amid strong growth including $55 million in funding in 2023 and recent acquisitions.[3][5][6]
Rebranded as Zeitview, the company has expanded beyond drones to a tool-agnostic model, inspecting 43 GW of solar capacity in a recent year and achieving $30 million in annual revenue with around 414-585 employees.[3][4][5] This evolution positions it as a market leader in the shift to renewables, with recent moves like acquiring Consilience Analytics in July 2025 to bolster telecom asset intelligence and raising additional $60 million funding in March 2025.[6]
DroneBase was founded in 2014 by Daniel (Dan) Burton as CEO and Eli Tamanaha as CTO and co-founder, starting with a focus on crowdsourced drone data for aerial imaging to enable real-time business decisions.[1][5][6] The idea emerged from recognizing the need for affordable, reliable aerial insights in industries like real estate and construction, quickly scaling to serve enterprises with professional drone pilots worldwide.[1][3] Early traction came from building a network active in multiple countries, trusted by major players in solar and wind.[1][5]
Pivotal moments include rapid growth in renewables, launching NASS for standardized solar ratings, and securing $55 million led by Valor Equity Partners in 2023 to fuel AI software and global expansion.[3][4] The 2023 rebrand to Zeitview marked a shift to advanced inspection software agnostic to capture methods, capping a year of renewable sector dominance; recent developments include 2025 acquisitions and further funding, humanizing its decade-long evolution from drone services to sustainable infrastructure AI leader.[3][4][5][6]
DroneBase (Zeitview) rides the global surge in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure, fueled by the transition from fossil fuels amid climate goals and hybrid asset operations.[3][4] Timing is ideal as solar/wind capacity explodes—e.g., U.S. plants needing oversight—while market forces like AI advancements, regulatory pushes for efficiency, and $18B+ U.S. drone services market by 2029 favor its inspection tech.[4][6] It influences the ecosystem by standardizing ratings like NASS, enabling better financing/oversight for 43 GW+ assets, and expanding to telecom/infrastructure via acquisitions, accelerating decarbonization at scale.[3][4][6]
Zeitview is primed for dominance in AI-driven asset intelligence, with next steps including NASS global rollout (Germany, Brazil, Australia, Japan) and deeper hybrid energy integrations via acquisitions.[4][6] Trends like AI analytics growth, renewable hybrid ops, and drone market expansion to $18B will propel it, evolving its influence from drone pioneer to indispensable sustainable infrastructure platform.[4][6] As the "time view" enabler for decades-long assets, it ties back to its origins: turning aerial data into revenue-saving insights for a greener economy.[3][4]
Key people at DroneBase.