We are proud to present one of our award-winners, FlyNex, and to tell you more about their awe-inspiring solution. FlyNex offers an end-to-end data generation platform for enterprises that makes automated drones and AI the core components for data insights and real-time decisions and prevents up to 90% of infrastructure damage and outages.

 

But we'll let Michael Petrosjan, CFO and founder, tell us more about the company.

 

Q: Introduce yourself and tell us more about your current position and company?

A: Hello, I am Michael Petrosjan, one of the founders of FlyNex and CFO. I have been involved with drones, digitalization, and implications for efficiency for about 15 years. I am fascinated by the possibilities of this technology, and how it can be used to make infrastructure and its inspection sustainable and future-proof. FlyNex has developed a comprehensive software platform to help companies prepare their infrastructure inspection processes for the future. With our 40 employees, we work every day to grow and become better.

 

Q: What keeps you up at night?

A: Leaving a sustainable impact in an area that forms the backbone of society but is often overlooked in everyday life - infrastructure. I am fascinated by the future demands on our energy and telecommunication networks regarding robustness and sustainability with the associated potentials and changes for our society.

 

Q: Tell us about your product? What problem is it solving, and what makes your solution unique?

A: With our software platform, we enable asset-strong companies - especially in the areas of energy networks, telecommunication masts, and real estate - to digitize inspections so that these companies can leverage their digital potential, manage their data in a scalable manner, and thus prepare their infrastructure for the growing demands of the future so that, for example, energy deliveries and mobile communication are also possible in the future without any problems. Our platform combines data management, data generation, and data evaluation, e.g., utilizing AI, and offers a holistic solution that is easy to integrate and tailored to the customer. For example, no one has to climb a power pole to analyze its condition. I am constantly looking for new use cases for our solution, e.g., for inspecting solar parks or gas pipelines.

 

Q: How did you start your journey, and where are you now on the road to achieving your ambition?

A: In 2017, we began to digitize the legal requirements for a drone flight in such a way that it took just a few clicks of the mouse instead of several hours to know under what conditions a drone flight is legally permitted for a specific area. We then finalized our three modules for the enterprise sector, which firstly enable role- and rights-based data management, secondly automate the use of drones on objects to be inspected and thirdly combine data evaluation using artificial intelligence. With that, damages or anomalies on buildings, bridges, or electricity towers can be detected much more quickly and increase safety. We have been on the market with the overall solution in Europe, South America, and India for 18 months and are constantly developing new use cases.

 

Q: Can you share a story of a client using your product/service and what influence it had on them?

A: Since 2017, we have been working with Mitnetz Strom, an electricity grid operator in Germany. First, we tried out use cases in various projects to find out where the biggest levers lie in efficiency. Finally, we arrived at the drone-based inspection of electricity pylons. Currently, our product offers substantial added value in the regulatory planning of drone missions so they can take place compliantly. In the meantime, the internal use of drones at Mitnetz Strom has multiplied, and drones are an increasing part of the daily routine of inspections.

 

Q: What is FlyNex's biggest achievement to date?

A: It isn't easy to list the one significant achievement, as there were different highlights for the several development phases. But, after several years of effort, the most important achievement was to develop a product that brings immense customer value and to find the appropriate verticals for it, first and foremost, the area of critical infrastructure. A good indication of this is that even during the Corona crisis, we expanded our customer acquisition 100% remotely in the enterprise sector.

 

Q: What impacted your vision?

A: 1.5 years ago, we finalized our solution to the point where we could offer our customers complete software-based automation of data acquisition for unmanned aerial vehicles and AI evaluation. With it, they could automatically map their processes in-house and detect and thus repair damages to their infrastructure more quickly. Promoting the resilience of infrastructure became one of our focal points.

 

Q: How do you see FlyNex making a difference in the future?

A: We will increasingly add value to help companies fulfil their missions and drive their digitalization. There will be more digital data, and our software platform will support this in two ways. On the one hand, it will enable companies to inspect more objects in less time and with better quality, thereby meeting the growing demands on infrastructure. On the other hand, our digital solution will give companies an option to mitigate the skills shortage at the same time.

 

Q: How is the current situation impacting your business? What is FlyNex's immediate response to the situation?

A: The current situation is mainly favourable for us. The digitalization pressure that built up over the past few years and now must be mastered is playing into our hands. Solutions such as our FlyNex Enterprise Suite for digital infrastructure inspection increasingly enable remote inspections and are becoming part of the new work. However, we also notice that it has become more challenging to obtain growth financing in 2023. Overall, however, we are very optimistic about the future because the trend in our market segments is clearly in our favour.

 

Q: How have you benefitted from the Tech Tour events and activities?

A: The best assets, from my point of view, are the events and the super pleasant cooperation with the Tech Tour team - thank you very much for your support. Thanks to Tech Tour, we were able to win excellent investor talks as well as promising customer contacts. But the exchange with other start-ups was at least as impactful.

 

Meet more game changes like FlyNex at our upcoming sustainability events.