SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Axon will be the only company selling Skydio drones to public safety agencies in the U.S. and Canada under a $1.2 billion investment, the company announced.
The two companies have been working together since March 2021, when Axon began offering Skydio drones and linking drone footage to its evidence management platform. They expanded the arrangement in June 2024 with a package aimed at drone as first responder programs.
Axon says that model is working. The company said Skydio serves more than 1,500 public safety customers and that agencies using its DFR system have cut priority response times by as much as 65%. Drones arrive before officers on about 80% of the calls where they’re deployed, according to Axon. The company didn’t say how it measured those figures or which agencies they cover.
“Within a decade, millions of drones will be working across America,” Axon founder and CEO Rick Smith said in the announcement.
Skydio CEO Adam Bry said the money will help speed up the company’s technology roadmap.
Skydio will keep selling to customers outside public safety, DroneDJ reported.
The deal gives Axon roughly 20% more of Skydio on a fully diluted basis at a $5.2 billion pre-money valuation, according to the company’s Nov. 5 release.
