Up Sonder LLC

What Up Sonder LLC does

Up Sonder LLC operates a two-sided drone services marketplace connecting FAA Part 107 certified commercial drone pilots with real estate customers across the United States. Founded in 2015 in Los Angeles, the company has assembled a network spanning more than 1,000 cities and all 50 states, providing on-demand aerial photography and videography for residential and commercial property marketing. The platform delivers fixed nationwide pricing across tiered service packages — Commercial ($375-$875) and Residential ($299-$679) — with rapid 24-48 hour turnaround and end-to-end project management including pilot evaluation, scheduling, FAA airspace verification, flight planning, and post-production editing.

The core technology is a standard marketplace platform with online booking, integrated payment processing, identity login via Google and Facebook OAuth, and equipment delivery via Uber/UberRUSH. Proprietary features center on operational workflow rather than algorithmic differentiation: a Project Management Platform for multi-site enterprise clients, a National Pilot Network providing geographic scale, and a Rapid Delivery System for 24-48 hour turnaround on marketing assets.

The revenue model is transaction-based across multiple fees — a 5% Provider Service Fee, non-refundable Renter Fees, optional Damage Waiver Fees covering up to $2,500 in losses, and a stated option to introduce Listing Fees. Go-to-market combines a self-serve direct-to-consumer booking flow for SMB and individual customers with a sales-assisted channel for enterprise commercial real estate portfolios, supported by volume discounts of 15% (10-19 sites) and 25% (20+ sites). The company is privately held with no parent company disclosed and an SEC filing presence (CIK: 1758964).

Name

Up Sonder LLC

Legal name

Up Sonder LLC

Website

https://upsonder.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Up Sonder LLC operates a two-sided marketplace connecting FAA-certified drone pilots with U.S. real estate professionals, offering fixed-price aerial photography and videography packages nationwide across more than 1,000 cities since 2015.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Drone Services Marketplace

NAICS

Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (334511)

SIC

Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812)

akta.pro primary industry

Aerial Surveying & Crop Scouting (Imaging, Mapping, Stand Counts) (AFACAIAJ)

Keywords

• Drone services marketplace
• Aerial photography services
• Real estate drone imaging
• FAA-certified pilots
• Drone rental platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Service Transaction Fees: Up Sonder charges a 5% Provider Service Fee for each booking, with providers retaining 95% of their earnings. Company acts as limited payment collection agent, collecting Total Fees from renters and remitting to providers minus provider fees.
2. Service Fees (Renter Fees): Renter Fees are collected by Up Sonder as part of Total Fees and are non-refundable. These fees are separate from Provider Fees.
3. Drone Equipment Rental: Platform enables drone owners to list equipment and services for rent. Security deposits may be required, managed by Up Sonder as payment collection agent.
4. Damage Waiver Fee: Optional damage waiver fee for renters covering up to $2,500 in losses for accidental damage during normal operation. Renters who opt out face $500 authorization hold and full liability.
5. Listing Fees: Listing drone services on Up Sonder is free for providers. Company may introduce listing fees in the future with notice.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Up Sonder operates an online marketplace that connects FAA-certified drone pilots with real estate professionals who need aerial photography and videography for property listings. The platform aggregates third-party drone operators and offers structured packages for both commercial and residential real estate use cases, enabling customers to book, hire, and manage drone imaging jobs through the platform.

Product overview

Up Sonder LLC operates a dual-offering business model consisting of a marketplace platform and service packages. The Up Sonder Marketplace Platform connects real estate professionals with FAA-certified drone pilots across over 1,000 cities nationwide. The service portfolio includes two distinct product lines: Commercial Real Estate Packages (Commercial Aerials at $375, Video Additional at $675, and Video Feature at $875) and Residential Real Estate Packages (Aerial & Interior Focus at $299, Visual Plus at $449, and Premier Video Package at $679). The platform handles end-to-end project management including pilot selection, scheduling, FAA compliance, and video editing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Commercial Real Estate Packages
• Residential Real Estate Packages

Quantifiable outcome

• Delivery of marketing materials in as little as 48 hours
• +4 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature3 records

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Skydio: Skydio is a leading U.S. drone manufacturer whose enterprise/autonomy stack increasingly competes in inspection and mapping use cases, making it an adjacent incumbent shaping the same service economics.
• DJI: DJI dominates consumer and prosumer drone hardware; its products are the workhorses for the same pilots Up Sonder recruits, and it influences service economics through pricing and capability.
• PrecisionHawk: PrecisionHawk provides enterprise drone data services and analytics across industries including real estate, energy, and agriculture; comparable in offering pilot-mediated aerial data capture at scale.

Direct peers

• Dronegenuity: Dronegenuity is a drone services network offering aerial photography and videography primarily for real estate, with a regional pilot base and similar listing-shoot product lineup.
• Measure (Aerial Services): Measure runs a nationwide drone-as-a-service network providing aerial data capture for enterprises; comparable business model of aggregating FAA Part 107 pilots to deliver standardized outputs to commercial customers.
• Droners.io: Droners.io is a two-sided marketplace connecting commercial drone pilots with clients needing aerial work; directly comparable marketplace mechanics targeting real estate and inspection jobs.
• DroneBase: DroneBase operates an on-demand drone pilot marketplace offering aerial imaging, mapping, and inspection services across all 50 states — the closest direct competitor to Up Sonder, with overlapping customer base in real estate, construction, and inspections.

Others

• Pix4D: Pix4D supplies photogrammetry and mapping software used by commercial drone pilots; an enabling ecosystem participant rather than a direct service competitor, but feeds the same output pipeline Up Sonder delivers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/upsonder
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/up-sonder

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Up Sonder LLC