With the increasing drone delivery options, AirSpace Link raises a fund for controlling air traffic while mitigating associated issues.

FREMONT, CA: In the upcoming decade, the drone industry will develop rapidly outpacing the development of rules and systems to govern their use. There arise restrictions for citizens and businesses to know where they can safely fly or conduct complex flights due to fragmented, non-existing data and systems for managing local government airspace. On the other hand, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is looking for partners to integrate drones safely into controlled airspace, keeping in mind the air and ground-based safety a number one priority before it lifts the restrictive flight rules currently in place.

AirSpace Link is a Detroit-based startup that automates flight path and FAA clearance for commercial drones has raised $4 million in seed funding in the second half of 2019. The company raised $1 million pre-seed round in September led by 2048 Ventures, and a $3 million seed in December led by Indicator Ventures. AirSpace Link is one among the five companies in the world that can authorize commercial drone flights near airports.

When the delivery of packages and hamburgers by drones become real, the sky will become crowded. The AirSpace Link platform is an all-in-one FAA-certified, cloud-based platform that simultaneously connects all constituents involved in legally flying a drone. Here, the drone operator inputs their starting and delivery points. AirSpace Link then charts an aerial course and gets faster approval from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in seconds, so the drone doesn’t interfere with air traffic. This will enable stronger mitigation plans for complex flights, including BVLOS, inspection, and package delivery. The state and local governments utilize the Airspace Link portal to identify areas of risk, special ordinance and event restrictions within the community.

Further, utilizing the combined data, Airspace Link is building new drone airspace infrastructure resembling the infrastructure of toll roads. As it works with local governments to consider ground-based risks, AirSpace Link also navigates drones around things like schools, prisons and emergencies where one wouldn’t prefer a drone flying over.