What Dropcopter does

Dropcopter Inc. is a privately held US agtech company that operates drone-based aerial pollination services for commercial orchard growers. Founded in 2013–2014 and headquartered at the Tech Garden in Syracuse, New York, the company designs custom multi-rotor unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) equipped with a patent-pending electrostatic pollen-dispensing payload and autonomous flight-path software. Dropcopter dispatches licensed pilots to grower orchards to dispense dry pollen during bloom windows, operating under FAA Part 137 plus separate aerial-operations, materials-disbursement, and night-flight exemptions that allow pollination in conditions where bees cannot fly. The platform is marketed across almonds, apples, cherries, pears, dates, and pistachios, with claimed coverage of 20 acres per hour per drone and independent-research-cited yield lifts of 10–60%.

The company's revenue model is project-based professional services priced per acre (averaging ~$300 per acre for two applications, including pollen), supplemented by a partnership with Green Atlas to deliver AI-assisted orchard scanning and yield-analytics engagements using the Green Atlas Cartographer (LiDAR plus high-resolution photography). Distribution is a quote-based, high-touch field-service motion: growers request a callback, Dropcopter coordinates pre-bloom flight planning, and pilots deliver the service on-site. Geographic reach spans three US states (New York, California, Washington) plus international pilots in Brazil (Kolecti partnership for seed-collection projects) and Israel (Blue White Robotics / MOP Arava partnership for date palm pollination). The company has been funded to date through non-dilutive accelerator and competition grants — $250,000 from the GENIUS NY accelerator in 2018 and $500,000 from the inaugural Grow-NY competition in 2019 — rather than traditional venture capital.

Dropcopter's leadership team consists of Founder/CEO Matt Koball (over 30 years in agricultural management), CTO Mike Winch (joined 2017, prior background in software/consulting and $100M-portfolio sales leadership), and Research Operations Manager Alexander Young (biology and environmental research). The company has signaled intent to raise outside capital from private equity groups in 2022 and beyond via its Investors page. Current headcount is in the 1–10 range, consistent with the early-stage, project-driven profile of the business.

Name

Dropcopter

Legal name

Dropcopter Inc

Website

https://dropcopter.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Dropcopter Inc. is a US agtech company that provides drone-based aerial pollination services to commercial orchard growers (almonds, apples, dates, and other fruit/nut crops) using custom multi-rotor UAS with an electrostatic pollen-dispensing payload, priced per acre and complemented by partner-delivered orchard-scanning analytics.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Aerial Pollination Services

akta.pro primary industry

Aerial Pesticide/Herbicide/Fungicide Application (AFACAIAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Aerial Surveying & Crop Scouting (Imaging, Mapping, Stand Counts) (AFACAIAJ), Aerial Vector Control & Public Health Spraying (Mosquito/Locust) (AFACAIAK), Aerial Fertilizer & Micronutrient Application (AFACAIAD), Aerial Biologicals Application (Biopesticides, Beneficials, Microbials) (AFACAIAF), Aerial Frost Protection & Orchard/Vineyard Air Mixing (AFACAIAH)

Keywords

• Drone pollination services
• Aerial crop pollination
• Orchard pollination services
• Agricultural drone services
• Precision agriculture analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

Syracuse

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Drone pollination services: Project-based professional service: Dropcopter dispatches licensed drone pilots and custom drones to grower orchards to dispense dry pollen during bloom. Priced per acre (average ~$300/acre for 2 applications) and includes the pollen itself. Geographic reach spans NY, CA, WA plus Brazil and Israel.
2. Crop scanning / Green Atlas analytics: Paid orchard-scanning engagements using the Green Atlas Cartographer, producing AI-assisted fruit/flower counts, yield estimates, color and size data, and tree-geometry reports. Sold as one-time or comparative reports across a season.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Dropcopter dispatches licensed drone pilots and custom multi-rotor unmanned aircraft systems to commercial orchards to autonomously dispense dry pollen during bloom, supplementing or replacing declining bee pollination. The service uses a patent-pending electrostatic pollen-charging payload, proprietary autonomous flight-path software, and FAA-exempt night-flight operations to pollinate almonds, apples, cherries, pears, dates, pistachios, and similar orchard crops across the U.S. (NY, CA, WA) and internationally (Israel, Brazil). A complementary Green Atlas Cartographer scanning service delivers AI-assisted LiDAR and image-based orchard analytics for yield estimation and crop-load management.

Product overview

Dropcopter offers a single integrated drone-based aerial pollination platform anchored by its core Aerial Agricultural Solutions service, supplemented by three supporting capabilities. The core service uses custom multi-rotor drones with autonomous flight-path coordination and a patented pollinator delivery system (electrostatic pollen charging) to dispense dry pollen over orchards, targeting almonds, apples, cherries, pears, dates and other crops. The proprietary Pollen Sourcing, Testing and Delivery module secures and viability-tests crop-specific pollen from partners (PollenPro, Pollen Ranch) prior to application. Building on this, the Green Atlas Crop Scanning add-on service — delivered in partnership with Green Atlas — layers AI-assisted computer vision and predictive analytics on LiDAR and high-resolution imagery to map orchards, count fruit and flowers, estimate yields and guide thinning, pruning and selective harvest. Together these offerings form a precision pollination and orchard-intelligence stack aimed at supplementing declining bee populations and supporting digital farming workflows.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Green Atlas Cartographer: Crop scanning service using Green Atlas hardware/software solutions for mapping orchards, providing fruit and flower counts, fruit sizing and color evaluation, and tree characteristics. Delivered in partnership with Green Atlas.

Products and services

• Aerial Agricultural Solutions (Drone Pollination Service) Dropcopter's flagship offering: a service in which custom multi-rotor drones autonomously dispense dry pollen over commercial orchards to increase fruit and nut set. Uses state-of-the-art guidance software and a patent-pending electrostatic pollinator delivery system; carries up to 5 kg of pollen, dispenses at 20 acres per hour per drone, and can operate at night or in cold conditions when bees cannot fly. Independent research cites yield increases of 10–60%. Priced per acre (average $300/acre including 2 applications and pollen).
• Green Atlas Crop Scanning Orchard scanning and analytics service delivered in partnership with Green Atlas. A Cartographer unit is driven through orchard rows collecting LiDAR data and high-resolution photographs; AI-assisted mapping then produces flower/fruit counts, fruit sizing, color evaluation, tree height and canopy/leaf area, plus yield estimates delivered as heatmaps and reports for thinning, pruning, sanitation, and selective harvest. Sold as one-time or comparative seasonal reports on a quote basis.

Quantifiable outcome

• 10–60% increase in crop yields (independent research verification)
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered flagship international partner, core product extension partner, core r&d and accelerator partner, core engineering tooling partner, supporting pollen partner, core research partner for date pollination, regional partner for brazil and flagship ecosystem and government partner.

• Blue White Robotics (BWR)flagship international partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerIsraeli autonomous-systems company providing Robot-as-a-Service for agricultural and other autonomous operations. Dropcopter and BWR jointly conducted the 2019–2020 Arava Medjool date pollination trial using Dropcopter's pollination pod with BWR's drones, and co-publish content on drone pollination in the Jordan Valley. BWR also opened a command and control center in Syracuse, NY, deepening the operating overlap with Dropcopter.
• Green Atlascore product extension partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerDropcopter partnered with Green Atlas to deliver crop-scanning services using the Green Atlas Cartographer (LiDAR + high-resolution photography). Reports cover yield estimation, fruit/nut sizing, color data, crop density maps, tree height, and canopy/leaf area, used both to evaluate Dropcopter's pollination work and to provide standalone orchard analytics.
• California State University, Fresno (Valley Ventures Accelerator)core r&d and accelerator partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerDropcopter was selected for cohort three of the Valley Ventures Accelerator, run by the Water, Energy, and Technology Center at Fresno State. The program connects Dropcopter with students, faculty, and a 1,000-acre university farm to validate and develop agtech for real-world agricultural issues.
• Onshape (a PTC business)core engineering tooling partnerTechnology or IntegrationOnshape delivered and supports the engineering software used to design all of Dropcopter's new drone equipment. The cloud-native CAD/PDM platform enables real-time collaboration, IP protection, and accelerated time-to-market for Dropcopter's custom pollinator hardware.
• PollenProsupporting pollen partnerOthersPollenPro is one of Dropcopter's two named pollen partners. Dropcopter sources crop-specific pollen through PollenPro and other partners, then verifies viability via agar petri-dish germination tests before deploying on orchard missions.
• Pollen Ranchsupporting pollen partnerOthersPollen Ranch is one of Dropcopter's two named pollen partners, supplying crop-specific pollen that Dropcopter viability-tests and dispatches via its drones.
• MOP Arava research institute (led by Dr. Efi Tripler)core research partner for date pollinationStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe MOP Arava team initiated the 2019–2020 drone date pollination trial and engaged Dropcopter plus Blue White Robotics to execute it across the ~5,000-acre Arava Medjool date region, validating the efficacy of drone pollination versus tractor fan blowers.
• Kolecti Recursos Florestaisregional partner for brazilStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrazilian seed-collection partner specializing in minimal-impact seed collections for flowering species. The relationship extends Dropcopter's footprint into Latin America for forestry and seed-crop projects.
• New York State — Empire State Development, Grow-NY, and The Tech Gardenflagship ecosystem and government partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerDropcopter's Syracuse presence is anchored within New York State's agriculture and innovation ecosystem: it won $500,000 in the inaugural Grow-NY competition (2019), is housed at The Tech Garden in Central New York, and is supported by Empire State Development as New York's primary economic development agency.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• XAG: China-based large-scale agricultural drone manufacturer and service provider offering crop spraying, seeding, and pollination. Comparable as a much larger incumbent providing drone-based agronomic services at global scale, including pollination-adjacent aerial applications.
• PrecisionHawk: US-based drone and analytics company serving agriculture, energy, and insurance with aerial data collection and processing. Comparable as an incumbent offering drone-based agricultural intelligence that overlaps with Dropcopter's Green Atlas scanning service.
• Parrot (senseFly): Parrot-owned senseFly makes fixed-wing and quad drones for agriculture, mapping, and surveying. Comparable as an incumbent provider of drone hardware/software used for agricultural data capture and aerial services.
• DJI Agriculture: Dominant global agricultural drone manufacturer (Agras series) with crop spraying and mapping used by growers worldwide. Comparable as a broad incumbent whose drone platforms underpin commercial agricultural UAS services, including potential pollination applications.

Others

• Taranis: Precision agriculture intelligence platform combining aerial imagery, AI, and field-level analytics. Comparable as an adjacent analytics provider whose orchard/crop insights overlap with Dropcopter's Green Atlas scanning reports.

Emerging players

• American Robotics: Autonomous drone-in-a-box systems approved by the FAA for beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations in agriculture and other industries. Comparable as an emerging player in fully autonomous commercial UAS operations relevant to scaled pollination delivery.
• Pyka: Developer of autonomous electric aerial application aircraft for crop protection. Comparable as an emerging player in autonomous agricultural aircraft delivering aerial applications such as spraying, adjacent to Dropcopter's drone application model.
• Sentera: Provider of drone sensors, analytics, and data platforms for agriculture. Comparable as an emerging player offering orchard and field analytics that compete with the Green Atlas Cartographer scanning add-on.
• Guardian Agriculture: eVTOL autonomous agricultural aircraft company focused on crop protection and spraying. Comparable as an emerging player building certified autonomous aerial application platforms for commercial agriculture.

Direct peers

• Blue White Robotics: Israeli autonomous-systems company providing Robot-as-a-Service for agricultural drone operations, including joint drone date pollination with Dropcopter in the Arava region. Comparable because it operates the same drone-delivery service model in adjacent crops and geographies, and could substitute for Dropcopter's pollination payload.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Dropcopter
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCGDgh3RbJ9FiuLlKHowSKHQ/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/100010711091290

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 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 Dropcopter