Sustainable Skylines

What Sustainable Skylines does

Sustainable Skylines is a Miami-based advertising technology company that operates drone-based aerial banner-towing campaigns as a modern alternative to traditional gasoline-powered banner planes. Founded in 2020 by CEO Jacob Stonecipher, it tows 1,000+ square-foot banners over high-density locations such as beachfronts, outdoor venues, bridges, and highways, and positions itself as the first FAA-approved commercial drone banner-towing operator in the United States. The company's core technology stack combines proprietary hybrid-electric propulsion drones (designed for high-payload, high-endurance autonomous flight), large U.S.-manufactured aerial banners, and an analytics layer built on computer vision, geospatial, and cellular data aggregation. Flight operations and resource coordination are managed through Mitsubishi Electric's AnyMile drone logistics management platform, while pilot training and certification are delivered through a partnership with the Unmanned Safety Institute (USI).

The business model is primarily a direct-sales, custom-priced service: each aerial advertising campaign is scoped to the client's budget, location, timeframe, and goals, with no publicly disclosed rate card. A secondary, recurring revenue layer is the proprietary web-based Audience Measurement Platform, which delivers real-time impressions, audience demographics, reach, frequency, digital activations, and conversion-rate metrics and can be purchased as a standalone analytics offering. The company targets three customer segments — local advertisers, national brands and corporations, and non-profit / governmental / public-service organizations — with the latter receiving heavily discounted or complimentary ad-space under an ESG commitment. Initial operations are concentrated in Miami Beach following the December 2024 inaugural launch with the Ad Council and the City of Miami; the company has publicly stated plans to expand to additional major U.S. markets including Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Daytona, Los Angeles, Austin, Tampa, and San Diego.

Sustainable Skylines is privately held, sub-10-employee, and has raised approximately $2.65M across three funding rounds (a 2021 round, a 2023 pre-seed of $1M led by undisclosed investors, and a 2025 round of $1.5M). Revenue is not publicly disclosed. Its leadership team pairs advertising-industry veterans — including CMO Tim Carlisle (former P&G / Publicis Worldwide executive) and Chief Research Officer Paul Donato (former Nielsen and Kantar Media CRO) — with technical and regulatory specialists including Software Architect Wei Xie (PhD in Computer Vision) and aerospace consultant Jonathan Daniels (Praxis Aerospace Solutions); FAA regulatory counsel is provided by Hogan Lovells partners Lisa Ellman and Matthew Clark.

Name

Sustainable Skylines

Legal name

Sustainable Skylines Corporation

Website

https://sustainableskylines.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sustainable Skylines is a Miami-based drone aerial advertising company that uses FAA-approved hybrid-electric drones to tow large-scale banners over beaches and urban venues. It combines computer-vision audience measurement analytics with a direct sales motion serving local advertisers, national brands, and non-profit organizations across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Drone Aerial Advertising Services

NAICS

Indoor and Outdoor Display Advertising (54185), Advertising Agencies (54181)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Large-Format & Spectaculars (Building Wraps, 3D, Landmarks) (BPAFALAH)

Keywords

• Drone aerial advertising
• Out-of-home advertising
• Aerial banner campaigns
• Audience measurement analytics
• Sustainable drone technology

Headquarters

HQ city

Miami

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Drone Aerial Banner Advertising: The primary revenue stream is drone-based aerial advertising where Sustainable Skylines tows full-scale advertising banners over high-density locations such as beaches, outdoor venues, bridges, and highways. Pricing is tailored per client, location, campaign, and timeframe, delivered through a direct sales motion with custom campaign packages.
2. Analytics and Data Services: Access to the proprietary web-based audience measurement platform providing real-time impressions, audience demographics, ad reach and frequency, digital activations, and conversion rate data. Clients can request access to the data platform as a standalone analytics offering.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Sustainable Skylines sells drone-based aerial banner advertising campaigns, towing large-scale (1,000+ sq ft) banners over high-density locations such as beachfronts, outdoor venues, bridges, and highways. Campaigns are delivered as custom packages priced per client, location, and timeframe, and are bundled with a proprietary web-based analytics platform that measures impressions, audience demographics, reach, frequency, digital activations, and conversion rates in real time.

Product overview

Sustainable Skylines operates as a drone-based aerial advertising company offering a unified platform for out-of-home advertising combined with data analytics. The core product is the Drone-Based Aerial Advertising Platform, which uses proprietary hybrid-electric drones to tow large-scale banners over high-density beachfront and urban locations. This core service is enhanced by supporting modules: the Web-Based Audience Measurement Platform for real-time impression tracking, Computer Vision and AI Analytics for audience size measurement from drone footage, Big Data Geospatial Analytics for campaign intelligence, and Large-Scale Aerial Banners (1,000+ sq ft) as the advertising medium. The company also utilizes the Mitsubishi Electric AnyMile™ drone logistics management platform internally for operations and resource management. The company is headquartered in Miami, Florida, with initial operations along South Beach and expansion plans for major U.S. markets including Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Daytona, Los Angeles, Austin, Tampa, and San Diego.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Drone-Based Aerial Advertising Campaigns
• Web-Based Audience Measurement Platform
• Large-Scale Aerial Banners

Quantifiable outcome

• Eliminates over 90% of the aerial advertising industry's carbon footprint for equivalent flight operations
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Ad CouncilflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 December 2024The Ad Council partnered with Sustainable Skylines for the inaugural full-size drone banner advertising campaign launched along Miami Beach in December 2024. The campaign featured an Ad Council banner ad raising awareness about the dangers of buzzed driving, marking the first full-size drone banner advertising campaign in U.S. history and serving as a proof-of-concept for the platform.
• City of MiamiflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 December 2024The City of Miami partnered with Sustainable Skylines for the launch of its inaugural drone banner-towing advertising operations over Miami Beach, providing municipal support and approval for the groundbreaking commercial drone advertising initiative.
• USI (Unmanned Safety Institute)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 April 2024Sustainable Skylines and USI partnered to create a training and certification program enabling aviators to operate within the Sustainable Skylines infrastructure. USI provides safety training and certification pathways for aviation professionals, including Primary and Advanced Certifications, developing a new career pathway for drone commercial operations. Sustainable Skylines relies on USI-certified staff for flight operations and has partnered closely with USI to ensure flight staff meets the highest standard of safety.
• Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc.coreTechnology or Integration · 16 November 2023Mitsubishi Electric US partnered with Sustainable Skylines to provide its AnyMile™ Drone Logistics Management Integrated Platform to manage all drone-based advertising campaigns. The platform streamlines drone operations and resource management for safe, sustainable, and efficient aerial advertising campaigns, including logistics, flight scheduling, and operational coordination.
• VELARYminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 May 2023VELARY is referenced as a partner supporting the initial Miami market launch of Sustainable Skylines' drone advertising operations, though limited detail is provided on the nature of the partnership.
• Hogan LovellscoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerHogan Lovells provides legal counsel on FAA regulatory and exemption matters. Lisa Ellman (Partner) and Matthew Clark (Senior Associate) advise on U.S. DOT and FAA matters, including navigating the FAA exemption process and achieving operational approvals. Their expertise and connections to the FAA are critical to Sustainable Skylines' ability to achieve the approvals needed for operations.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sustainable-skylines

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sustainable Skylines