Japan-based Terra Drone expands to Australia with investment in leading local UAV services provider

Terra Drone Corporation, a drone startup and one of the world’s largest provider of industrial drone solutions, today announced it has finalized its expansion into the Australian market after completing an equity investment in Australian firm, C4D Intel Pty Ltd. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. As part of the deal, C4D Intel will immediately rebrand to Terra Drone Australia.

The latest investment is part of Terra Drone’s ambition to expand its drone technology businesses across the globe and demonstrates the its ambition and commitment to the Australian market. Later this month, the newly rebranded Terra Drone Australia will bring innovative drone technology from The Netherlands to Australia for ‘proof of concept’ trials for global mining company Rio Tinto. The Terra UT Drone from Terra Inspectioneering will allow Terra Drone Australia to offer ultrasonic thickness testing of steel in hard to reach places, such as bin walls which are subject to wear.

Terra Drone actively invests in UAV technology providers to help them promote their products and services in the global market. The company currently employs over 500 drone industry professionals. The  company has more than 25 branches are spread globally throughout Asia, Europe, South America, Africa, and Oceania. Terra Drone provides innovative enterprise drone services for oil and gas, utilities, renewables

C4D Intel  was founded in 2016. It provides surveying, inspection, and 3D modeling services to a diverse client base across mining, oil and gas, power, and forestry industries in Western Australia. As Terra Drone Australia, the company will be able to leverage the additional growth capital to expand its service offering to include unmanned airborne LiDAR, bring innovative Terra Group technologies to Australia, and expand its operations to the East coast of Australia.

The Australian drone service provider’s existing clients include mining heavy-weights such as Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group, and large utilities such as ATCO Gas Australia and Synergy. The company specializes in large-scale unmanned aerial surveys, confined space infrastructure inspections, high-altitude inspections, bridge and pipeline inspections, and asset 3D modeling.

C4D Intel Operations Manager Will Wishart said, “We are delighted to join the No.1 industrial drone services company in the world, Terra Drone. When the world’s fastest-growing drone business chooses to expand to Australia, and selects our business to invest in, it speaks volumes about the opportunities available here and the vision we have for the company.

“There are many advantages of being a part of a global organization and this next phase of growth makes for very exciting times. We have already leveraged Terra Drone’s international network to bring new technology to Australia and look forward to accelerating this as we expand our operations across the Australian continent.”

Terra Drone Corporation CEO Toru Tokushige added, “The establishment of Terra Drone Australia is another milestone for our international expansion strategy. Australia bears a strategic significance in our growth plans. Having a local presence in the region allows us to be close to our customers and strengthen our support to them.”

Founded in 2016, the Tokyo, Japan-based Terra Drone provides innovative enterprise drone services for oil and gas, utilities, renewables, mining, construction, and GIS sectors, among others. Terra Drone provides end-to-end solutions specializing in each sector by using high-performance hardware, cutting-edge software and customizable drone traffic management systems (UTM).