Telstra will be heading into the drone business with its venture capital division, Telstra Ventures investing in US based drone flight platform Cape.
According to The Australian, Telstra has been eyeing off drones for quite a while.
Speaking with The Australian Matthew Koertge, managing director at Telstra Ventures he says, “a number of Telstra’s enterprise customers are looking at the potential of drones and the telco already uses drones extensively to inspect some of its 27,000 cell towers.”
Chris Rittler, CEO at Cape spoke to The Australian saying the telco’s involvement should deliver an immediate boost to its prospects in Australia, “Telstra is clearly key to the development of the market in Australia and will also contribute to the broader market development via its strategic role throughout the region.
Cape, founded in 2014, allows its users to fly drones via their laptop or mobile device. Other Cape investors include Google, NEA and Seed.
Telstra Ventures has locations in Australia, Silicon Valley and Asia, it has invested in more than 50 companies since its founding in 2011. Its portfolio includes, computer software company Cumulus; cloud protect company CrowdStrike; and phishing protection company, Phishme.
Early last month, Telstra lost $273m over the investment of video streaming company Ooyala, writing down the value of the company to zero. The company invested in Ooyala in 2012.
