KHALEEJ TIMES, Wednesday, Jan 25, 2023 | Rajab 3, 1444
Edge makes $14 million investment in High Lander
Emirates:
The UAE’s Edge group has announced a strategic investment in High Lander,
the company behind Universal UTM, a drone-agnostic unmanned traffic management
solution which provides the automation, coordination, and safety much needed in
increasingly crowded skies.
The $14 million investment creates a ground-breaking partnership and is already
forging ongoing deals and high-value opportunities in both the military and
civilian domains between some of the world’s biggest technology providers, as
both companies progress along their respective roadmaps.
Faisal Al Bannai, chairman of the board of Edge, said: “As Edge grows rapidly,
and with our focus increasingly being directed to the development of
world-leading autonomous aerospace solutions, the need for a superior and
readily available air traffic management platform could not be more urgent.
Today’s operating environments require the most advanced unmanned air traffic
control systems, and High Lander provides the only truly universal solution for
this critical requirement. Our investment in High Lander as a major shareholder
is logical for EDGE, and mutually beneficial and opportune for both companies,
allowing us to grow and perfect these solutions further together, in both the
military and civilian domains.”
As part of its international growth strategy, Edge, which comprises an
impressive portfolio of 20 complementary companies, is placing a clear focus on
the development of autonomous systems, including unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs), smart weapons, and cyber technologies. The group is keen to further
assist High Lander in developing its next-generation Universal UTM solution,
which enables the safe coexistence of manned and unmanned aviation. Edge aims to
utilise Universal UTM in the management of autonomous operations.
Alon Abelson, co-founder and CEO of High Lander, commented: “We are excited
about the strategic partnership with Edge because it strengthens High Lander's
position as a market leader in drone fleet management and UTM spaces as we begin
to scale globally. High Lander and EDGE have a mutual goal of creating the most
technologically advanced airspace automation systems possible, and we look
forward to working with Edge for many years to come.”
High Lander's Universal UTM oversees the busiest airspaces, enabling multiple,
simultaneous drone operations. From pre-flight authorisation to mid-mission
changes and post-flight logs, Universal UTM enables efficient management of all
aspects of airspace control.
Mansour AlMulla, managing director and CEO of Edge, added: “High Lander is a
growing tech company with huge potential, operating with a startup mindset yet
drawing from decades of experience in the aviation sector. This, coupled with
the highest levels of innovation, has allowed it to create an opportunity in the
autonomous air traffic sector, a sector which is in pressing need of
transformation. This is a win-win partnership. High Lander will benefit from
Edge’s offerings of integrated systems and solutions, and we in turn will adapt
High Lander’s world-leading UTM platform to further advance our autonomous
capabilities.”