DII: Almost USD 5 bn of investments in the drone industry in 2022

Mainly due to the war in Ukraine, the global investments in the drone industry were lower than in 2021, but still the total amount of investments reached as high as USD 4.8 bn – reads the Drone Industry Insight report.

According to the DII data, over the few last years the amount of money invested in the industry was progressively reaching new heights. In 2022 the total value yoy declined by 39% and reached USD 4.8 billion. The decrease was probably caused by the outbreak of Russian aggression on Ukraine in late Feb.

“A closer look at the timing of these drone industry investments shows that the total number of investments started to decrease in May 2022. This was a couple months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the reporting of small recreational and commercial drones being used in warfare” – reads the report.

“The data from the report is not surprising, the war caused some slowdown in most industries. What is important from the point of view of Dronehub is the fact that more than half – exactly 51% – of all global transactions in drone companies took place in North America. This shows how deep the market is and the amount of capital that can be raised in the US. It is also a confirmation that our strategy of strong expansion into the American market has its clear goals” – says Dronehub founder and CEO, Vadym Melnyk.

DII report says there were as many as 179 investment deals in the drone industry in 2022, including 40 M&A deals.

Regarding the company type, hardware drone companies accounted for 84% of the total investment, but software drone companies received more than double the investments received in the previous year (USD 534 m in 2022 v USD 210 m in 2021).

According to the Dronehub CEO, the drone market still has its best days ahead.

“Almost USD 5 billion of investments in 2022 is a huge amount, more than in total in 2018-2020. And we are talking about a year of war, a year of great financial uncertainty, a year of suspended investment decisions. Drones and the entire UAV sector are rapidly entering all aspects of industry, services and our everyday life, which translates into investor profits that will only increase” – adds Melnyk.