Easy Aerial raises $20M Series B

Insight Partners, Entrée Capital and unnamed private U.S. investors took part in the round. Mike Hayes of Insight sits on the board. Valuation was not disclosed, and the company has not said who led. CB Insights puts its total funding at about $26.15M across four rounds, so the new money is most of what it has raised. The previous priced round was a Series A in 2020. The Brooklyn company, led by CEO Shahar Abuhazira, makes autonomous drones that stay physically connected to a ground station. The cable supplies power and data, so the aircraft can stay up much longer than a battery-powered one. Uses include surveillance and reconnaissance, force protection, perimeter security and critical infrastructure. It has recently started producing in Europe and cites new programs in the U.S. and abroad. For AI founders, the round shows investor money going to autonomy companies with hardware and government buyers. The pitch here is dependable, U.S.-built systems that need little operator effort, and it is backed by new contracts rather than a model benchmark. Startups selling autonomy software to defense or security customers can expect hardware partners to be scaling production, and buyers to ask about supply chains and overseas manufacturing.