ZURICH, Switzerland – Fotokite AG, a Swiss and US-based scale-up making fully autonomous tetheredUAVs for firefighting and public safety teams, proudly announces the successful closure of its latest Series B financing round. The company has secured around CHF 10 M ($ 11 M) investment to further accelerate its growth, bolster its R&D and expand its operations globally.
Carbyne Equity Partners, a private equity firm that invests in growing European businesses, led Fotokite’s financing round with existing investors including Swisscanto Private Equity Growth I, and Credit Suisse Entrepreneur Capital Ltd.
“Fotokite’s differentiating technology and accomplished management team perfectly align with our investment requirements. Hence, we are delighted to accompany the international commercialization and continuous technological development of Fotokite’s products in order to provide first responders with equipment that is worthy of their critical missions”— Markus Petersen, Managing Partner Carbyne Equity Partners
With this recent funding, Fotokite has solidified its position as the premier provider of actively-tethered drone technology for emergency response teams. The company’s innovative solutions, which have been widely recognized for their effectiveness and reliability in critical scenarios empower first responders with advanced aerial capabilities to enhance situational awareness, streamline search and rescue operations, and save lives in critical situations.
The recent investment allows Fotokite to expand its public safety customer base, meet new market opportunities, develop additional product features, and scale up operations. Fotokite’s expansion efforts have led to a significant increase in its presence with operations now spanning across six continents.“We are thrilled to announce the successful completion of our latest funding round, which marks a significant milestone for our company,” said Bart Slager, CEO of Fotokite. “This investment underscores the confidence in our vision and the value of our autonomous solutions for first responders. With our expanded resources and global reach, we are poised to make an even greater impact in helping emergency response teams save lives and protect communities around the world.”
For more information about Fotokite and its revolutionary drone solutions for first responders, visit www.fotokite.com
About Carbyne: Carbyne Equity Partners is a European private equity firm that invests in growing businesses with strong market positions and excellent leadership. Carbyne’s focus sectors are security technology, agricultural technology, healthcare and nutrition. The operational experience of the team combined with access to firsthand industry expertise and an extensive network to support expansions, makes Carbyne a unique partner.
For more information, please see www.carbynepartners.de
About Swisscanto and the Swisscanto Private Equity Growth Fund: Swisscanto is the asset management arm of the Zürcher Kantonalbank group, one of Switzerland’s largest fund providers, developing high-quality investment and pension solutions for private investors, companies and institutions. The Swisscanto Private Equity Growth Fund provides capital to companies in the expansion phase active in the information, communication, technology (ICT) as well as in the healthcare sectors, mainly in Switzerland and opportunistically abroad. The Swisscanto Private Equity Growth Fund aims at creating added value during the market penetration by supporting its portfolio companies with capital, know-how and access to international partners for further expansion until a successful exit.
For more information visit Swisscanto web site www.swisscanto.com
About Credit Suisse Entrepreneur Capital Ltd.: Credit Suisse Entrepreneur Capital Ltd is a 100% subsidiary of Credit Suisse AG, a UBS Group company, providing small and medium-sized enterprises as well as young companies with growth capital. Since its foundation in 2010, CSEC has invested in over 60 Swiss companies.