Beagle has a new long-range drone with more than one application

When there are damages to energy infrastructure, such as electricity pylons or gas pipelines, expensive helicopters are frequently used to inspect them. Drones have begun to replace some of those inspections, but the flight-time for these can be limited. Now a new company has produced a drone with a very long range to fill this task, and, while the company demurred over any “dual-use” application, it’s clear that it could be used in a civilian setting to inspect infrastructure damaged by warfare. Hamburg, Germany-based Beagle uses long-range drones to capture data about energy infrastructure. It has now raised a €5 million seed round co-led by AENU (via partner Fabian Heilemann) and PT1 (via partner Nikolas Samios). Prior to this it had raised €1.9 million in pre-seed funding, plus €2 million in grants and subsidies. Co-founder Oliver Lichtenstein says he and his team spent five years developing what they dub a “computer with wings” that complies with strict EU airspace regulations f ... Read full article.