San Francisco-based smart airspace security provider has pledged to grow its global operations and team, after raising $30million in investment funding.

The company announced that it had closed $30million in an oversubscribed Series C-1 financing round, which was led by public safety technology company Axon. Other investors comprised Aqton Partners, Menlo Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Target Partners; and other individual Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.

The funding also follows on the heels of another $30.5million that Dedrone raised from a Series C funding round last December.

One of the world’s leading counter-drone software and hardware providers, Dedrone detects, identifies, locates, analyses and mitigates nearly 300 different drone types across more than 65 different manufacturers. The company uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect drones flying in authorised airspace.

It also applies fusion tracker software, sensors, mitigation functionality and advanced analytics – all of which can operate from a cloud or on-premises/air-gapped.

With this fresh shot in the arm, the company says it will incorporate Silicon Valley’s engineering expertise to solve issues of national importance in the US and beyond.

“As more and more drones enter the skies, maintaining airspace security has become a vital function of national and local governments, law enforcement, critical infrastructure, public venues and much more,” said Aaditya Devarakonda, Dedrone CEO.

“This fact is illustrated by the White House’s recent Domestic Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems National Action Plan to protect against nefarious drone activity. This need to better secure airspace has been a driving factor in Dedrone’s exponential growth in 2022; we are on track to double our revenue projections for the year and triple new hires in the US, including building a focused engineering team in California.

“Now is the time to ensure we continue to deliver the most robust, accurate and technologically advanced airspace security solution to our customers around the world.”

Dedrone has operations across 36 countries (including four in the G7 nations); nine US federal agencies; more than 75 critical infrastructure sites; over 20 airports; and 50 correctional facilities worldwide. The company actively provides drone detection services for some of the most high-profile events around the world, and works closely with more than 35 law enforcement agencies.

Recently, the company launched the DedroneRapidResponse a mobile counter-drone response solution, which can be deployed in under 30 minutes within a five-kilometre radius. In the United States, the new technology was first tested by the St. Petersburg police department in Florida, with the law enforcement department deploying DedroneRapidResponse for the 2022 Firestone Grand Prix, an IndyCar motor race.

“Dedrone is accelerating the path towards making the world safer from unauthorized and malicious drones,” said Henrik Kühl, SVP of Strategy and Corporate Development at Axon. “We performed extensive due diligence to evaluate multiple companies in this space. We were impressed by Dedrone’s technology, team and commercial traction.”