Va. Beach-based DroneUp acquires AeroVista Innovations

Virginia Beach-based end-to-end drone pilot service company DroneUp LLC announced Thursday it has acquired Glenview, Illinois-based AeroVista Innovations LLC (AVI). The merged company will rebrand as The DroneUp Training Academy.

DroneUp acquired AVI’s assets, employees and customer contracts. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

AVI was founded in 2016 and provides in-house drone program implementation and FAA compliance consultation.

“AVI’s value is rooted in consulting, integrating, and training in-house operations for sectors such as emergency management and law enforcement, offering DroneUp the ability to further serve these markets through its NASPO ValuePoint multistate contract,” AVI President Brendan Stewart said.

Also founded in 2016, DroneUp provides aerial data collection, training, program integration and equipment sales. It has more than 10,000 certified drone pilots. The DroneUp Training Academy will continue to be led by both Stewart as training director and Melanie Harris as sales director.

“Our training division allows us to enhance the skills of our pilots who fly complex missions for our customers and to assist our clients in problem-solving internal and off-site issues impacting safe and complete drone solutions,” said DroneUp founder and CEO Tom Walker.