NEWS FROM IRIDIUM DYNAMICS

As one of 13 finalists in a competition with over 400 applicants, Ian pitched the novel Halo UAV architecture as a solution to inspection of large Australian agricultural properties. After hearing 60-second pitches from thirteen companies, Iridium was chosen as one of five winners by Remo Giuffre, TEDxSydney CEO, Cathy Yuncken, General Manager at St. George, and Jack Delosa, founder of The Entourage.

Walking away with a novelty cheque, $25k, and most importantly a big smile, Irdium Dynamics are set to begin the next stages of prototype manufacturing, including tooling and materials for building a full hollow-moulded carbon fibre airframe.

Having completed the Incubate program, Iridium Dynamics is moving into the Australian Technology Park Innovations centre (ATPi). With world-class mentors, and large lab facilities, we’ll be accelerating the development of our prototype aircraft, and fine-tuning the business model.

After 14 grueling weeks, Ian pitched to a full house of entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, and industry representatives. The 5-minute pitch focused on the lack of tools available for crop farmers and graziers to inspect their large farms on a regular basis, in a cost effective manner. Autonomous UAVs operated by farmers are more economical than paying for the services of manned aircraft of expensive UAV operators, and daily flights with a high-performance UAV give more regular and higher resolution data than satellites.

The remainder of the talk described the technology behind the highly-efficient aircraft, the market opportunity, and the business plan.