What UVify does

UVify is a designer and manufacturer of autonomous drone swarm systems, founded in 2014 and headquartered in San Francisco with a design and R&D center in Seoul, South Korea. The company's core product is the IFO, a proprietary swarm light-show drone capable of GPS-precise synchronized flight in formations of up to 10,000+ units, complemented by the IFO-S research platform that integrates NVIDIA Jetson Nano compute and Intel RealSense cameras for aerial robotics development on the PX4 open-source flight stack. UVify also offers the DRACO modular racing drone (currently not for sale) and the OORI consumer FPV micro drone.

The business operates three interconnected revenue streams: hardware sales of IFO and IFO-S drones to drone show operators, research institutions, and enterprise buyers; end-to-end professional drone light show services covering choreography, permits, insurance, and on-site engineering; and a drone rental business launched in 2025. Marquee customers include Nike, Chanel, Netflix, IWC, Hyundai, HYBE/Big Hit, L'Oreal, JW Marriott, Greenpeace, and NASCAR, alongside channel customers such as Sky Elements, Pixis, Illumin, UGCS, and Pixelswarm. Pricing is contact-based for both hardware and show services.

UVify claims top global market share in drone swarm entertainment, has secured four Guinness World Records including a 10,000-drone show in Texas, and is the only Korean company with a board seat on the Dronecode Foundation governing PX4. The company is actively expanding into defense applications combining swarm flight, autonomous flight, and physical AI, supported by a ~USD 41.7M funding round in February 2026 — the largest single investment ever recorded for a Korean drone firm.

Name

UVify

Legal name

UVify Inc.

Website

https://uvify.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

UVify designs and manufactures autonomous drone swarm systems — primarily the IFO light-show drone and IFO-S aerial robotics research platform — and provides end-to-end drone show services to enterprise brands, event organizers, and research institutions across 25+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Revenue model

1. Drone Light Show Services: End-to-end drone light show production services including creative consultation, choreography design, site rehearsal, on-site engineering support, permit acquisition, and insurance. Revenue from entertainment event productions for corporate and government clients.
2. IFO/IFO-S Drone Hardware Sales: Sale of proprietary IFO swarm light show drones and IFO-S aerial robotics research platforms. IFO operates in 40,000+ sites across 25+ countries worldwide.
3. Drone Rental Business: Started drone rental business in 2025, providing drones without full ownership for customers who prefer operational expenditure over capital expenditure.
4. Defense Drone Expansion: Expansion into next-generation defense drone sector leveraging swarm flight and autonomous flight technology combined with physical AI. Company cited high proportion of overseas sales as a key evaluation factor by investors.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

No substantive information about UVify's core offerings was available in the provided source content; the input text block was empty, so no verified description of products or services could be extracted.

Product overview

UVify operates a portfolio of drone products centered on the IFO swarm light show system. The core offering is the IFO drone platform for commercial light show entertainment, complemented by the IFO-S aerial robotics research platform for developers and institutions. The product line also includes DRACO (high-performance modular racing drone, currently not for sale) and OORI (consumer FPV micro drone). UVify provides end-to-end drone light show production services alongside hardware sales, serving entertainment, defense, and research markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 10,000 drone simultaneous flight - Guinness World Record
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers23 records

Segments4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability3 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Aerial IlluminationscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2026Partnership to deliver a nine-night progressive drone light show in Houston, Texas during Easter week, scaling from 5,000 to 10,000 drones with attempts at four world records. First multi-night live drone show series of this scale in the industry, showcasing large-scale fleet logistics, safety systems, and creative execution capabilities.
• Dronecode Foundation (PX4)coreTechnology or IntegrationUVify is the only Korean company with a seat on the board of the Dronecode Foundation, which oversees the PX4 drone operating system. This provides strategic access to open-source flight control development and positions UVify as a leading contributor to the drone ecosystem.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Shield AI: Autonomous defense drone company (Hivemind, V-BAT) that competes in the autonomous swarm defense space UVify is expanding into.
• DJI: Dominant global drone manufacturer with broad commercial, enterprise, and consumer offerings. Competes as an incumbent in the broader drone hardware market that UVify's IFO and IFO-S platforms address.
• Skydio: US-based autonomous drone manufacturer focused on commercial, public safety, and defense applications — comparable to UVify on autonomous flight and defense expansion, though broader in market focus.
• Anduril Industries: US defense technology company building autonomous drones and AI systems — directly comparable to UVify's defense expansion ambitions in autonomous swarm flight and physical AI.
• Parrot: European drone manufacturer with consumer and professional product lines — adjacent peer as a drone hardware maker with research and commercial applications similar to UVify's portfolio.

Direct peers

• Verge Aero: US-based drone light show company that designs and manufactures its own swarm drones and provides full show production services — a direct competitor to UVify's IFO platform and light show services.
• EHang: Chinese autonomous aerial vehicle company that has branched into drone light show operations in addition to passenger eVTOL development — comparable as a drone show operator and autonomous swarm hardware manufacturer.
• Nova Sky Stories: Drone light show operator and integrator running large-scale shows for events and brands — directly competes with UVify's IFO Experience service offering in the entertainment vertical.
• Sky Elements: Major US drone show operator running large-scale productions — both a UVify customer (operates IFO fleet) and a competitor in the entertainment show services market.
• Celestial Drone Shows: Drone light show operator and integrator competing directly with UVify for entertainment event contracts — also operates UVify hardware per the customer list.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@UVify
• Facebookfacebook.com/uvify
• Instagraminstagram.com/uvify
• Xx.com/uvify
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/10836673

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors6 records

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 UVify