Kitty hawk acquires 3D robotics

Kitty Hawk is buying what’s left of one-time DJI competitor 3D Robotics. Aircraft manufacturer Kitty Hawk produces electric personal air vehicles and is financially supported by Google co-founder Larry Page. Chris Anderson, the co-founder of 3D Robotics, will become Kitty Hawk’s chief operating officer.

Several years ago, the USA’s 3D Robotics was competing against early entrants like France’s Parrot and China’s DJI. The company was widely regarded as a good example of the transformation within the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or ‘drone’) manufacturing industry. In 2017, GIM International decided to find out more about 3D Robotics and touched base with the company’s then-CEO (and former editor of Wired magazine) Chris Anderson and Daniel McKinnon, the company’s vice president. When DJI began to dominate the market, 3D Robotics decided to abandon its consumer product (called Solo) and has spent the subsequent years developing software for commercial drones.