AUAV
AUAV is a professional drone services company that provides aerial inspection, survey, and mapping for industrial asset owners. Founded in 2013 in Australia and majority-owned by Vertech Group since 2022, it serves enterprise clients in oil & gas, energy, utilities, and infrastructure across Australia, the UK, and the US.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersMelbourne, Australia
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What AUAV does
AUAV (Australian UAV), founded in 2013 and headquartered in Melbourne, is a professional drone services company specializing in aerial inspection, survey, and mapping of industrial assets. The company's core offering combines drone-based data capture using specialized sensors (LiDAR, thermal imaging, RGB cameras) with three proprietary software platforms — inSite™ (asset inspection software managing data from capture to delivery), onSite (data management platform), and TenderPak™ (tender documentation tool) — to deliver an end-to-end inspection workflow. AUAV serves enterprise clients across primary verticals including oil & gas (tank, confined space, flare stack, and rig inspections), energy & utilities (wind, solar, distribution pole inspections), construction & infrastructure, water infrastructure, and offshore energy, with subsea capabilities delivered through AUV/ROV robotics.
AUAV operates a project-based, quote-priced professional services revenue model, delivering engagements through direct enterprise field sales rather than self-serve channels. The company holds CASA (Australia), CAA (UK), and FAA (US) operating licenses, as well as ISO certifications, and emphasizes an unblemished safety record and Top 20 global UAV service provider status (per Drone Industry Insights, four consecutive years through 2022). Named enterprise customers include Shell (collaboration on the world's first BVLOS unmanned entry 5-year COT tank inspection with ABS and Sonomatic) and Rio Tinto (solar farm thermal surveys).
In March 2022, AUAV was majority-acquired by Vertech Group, an Australian industrial services conglomerate, integrating AUAV with sister companies Sonomatic (advanced NDT) and Geo Oceans (subsea robotics) to offer bundled robotics and drone inspection campaigns. The company has since expanded internationally, opening a Darwin office in February 2023, an Aberdeen UK operational base in September 2023, and a Houston US headquarters in October 2023, giving it a three-continent operational footprint serving industrial clients in Australia, the United Kingdom, and North America. The company is privately held, with no public revenue or headcount disclosures beyond a stated 11-50 employee range, and is led by Managing Director James Rennie.
AUAV firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- AUAV
- Legal name
- AUAV (Australian UAV)
- Website
- https://auav.com.au
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- AUAV is a professional drone services company that provides aerial inspection, survey, and mapping for industrial asset owners. Founded in 2013 in Australia and majority-owned by Vertech Group since 2022, it serves enterprise clients in oil & gas, energy, utilities, and infrastructure across Australia, the UK, and the US.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
AUAV industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Drone Inspection Services
- NAICS
- Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (541360), Building Inspection Services (541350), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (541690)
- SIC
- Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Inspection Services (Ground, Aerial/Drone, Helicopter, Climbing) (EUADAJAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Aerial Surveying & Crop Scouting (Imaging, Mapping, Stand Counts) (AFACAIAJ), Marine & Underwater Robotics (USVs/UUVs) (HDAAAIAH)
Keywords
Where AUAV is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Melbourne
- HQ country
- Australia
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices4 records
Markets served
AUAV business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Drone Inspection Services: Project-based drone inspection services for industrial assets including tanks, confined spaces, infrastructure, and specialized applications. Revenue generated through service contracts and per-project engagements.
- Aerial Survey and Mapping: Survey and mapping services using aerial drones with photogrammetry and LiDAR capabilities for construction, mining, and infrastructure projects.
- Specialist Sensor Services: Specialized inspection services using thermal imaging, laser scanning, and other advanced sensors for specific inspection requirements.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
AUAV product offering
Product offeringCore offering
AUAV provides professional drone-based industrial asset inspection, aerial survey, and mapping services for enterprise clients across oil and gas, energy, utilities, construction, and water infrastructure. Services are delivered using specialized drones equipped with LiDAR, thermal imaging, and RGB sensors, complemented by three proprietary software platforms (inSite™, onSite, and TenderPak™) that manage data from flight planning through to client-ready deliverables. The company also extends to underwater inspection via integration with Vertech Group sister companies using AUV/ROV subsea robotics.
Product overview
AUAV is a drone inspection services company offering a unified platform of hardware inspection services and proprietary software tools. The core offering consists of drone-based inspection services (aerial and marine) complemented by three integrated software platforms: inSite™ (custom asset inspection software for managing data from capture to delivery), onSite (data management platform), and TenderPak™ (tender documentation management). The company operates across all Australian states and territories, the United Kingdom, and the United States, providing services to numerous industries including energy, infrastructure, and utilities.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- inSite™: Custom asset inspection software developed by AUAV for managing data from capture to delivery.
- onSite
- TenderPak™
Products and services
- Drone Asset Inspections Drone-based inspection service for industrial assets including tanks, confined spaces, flare stacks, oil rigs, and other infrastructure. Includes thermal inspections and photogrammetry modeling. Designed for oil and gas, energy, utilities, and industrial asset owners needing safe inspection of hazardous or hard-to-reach environments without scaffolding, rope access, or confined space entry.
- Aerial Survey & Mapping Aerial survey and mapping services using drone technology for geospatial data collection and mapping applications across construction, mining, and infrastructure projects.
- Aerial LiDAR Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) aerial scanning service using drone-mounted sensors to deliver precise 3D data capture for industrial and infrastructure applications.
- Specialist Sensors & Services Specialized sensor technologies and inspection services delivering advanced data collection capabilities for specific industrial inspection requirements beyond standard visual capture.
- Terrestrial Laser Scanning Ground-based laser scanning service providing detailed 3D modeling and measurement of structures and environments for asset documentation and analysis.
- Terrestrial & Marine Drones Ground-based and underwater drone inspection services including bathymetric surveys for subsea infrastructure assessment, leveraging AUV/ROV subsea robotics from Vertech Group sister companies.
- Aerial Photo & Video Professional aerial photography and videography services using drone platforms to provide visual documentation for industrial, commercial, and promotional purposes.
- Roof & Building Inspections Drone-based inspection service for rooftops and building exteriors, delivering detailed visual assessment without scaffolding or rope access for commercial and industrial property owners.
- Thermal Surveys for Solar Farms Thermal imaging survey service using drones to identify hot spots, defects, and performance issues across solar panel installations for utility-scale solar operators.
- Crack Mapping of Dams Specialized drone inspection service for detailed crack mapping and structural assessment of dam infrastructure, supporting structural monitoring programs for dam operators and water resource managers.
- Distribution Pole Inspections Drone-based inspection service for utility distribution poles that enables efficient condition assessment of utility infrastructure without service interruptions.
- Wind Farm Inspections Specialized drone inspection service for wind turbine blades and wind farm infrastructure, identifying damage and maintenance needs without rope-based or elevated access.
- Drone Data Platform Comprehensive data management platform offering for processing, analyzing, and delivering drone-captured inspection data to clients across AUAV's service engagements.
Quantifiable outcome
- World's first BVLOS unmanned entry 5-year COT tank inspection
Companies that use AUAV
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
AUAV technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
AUAV partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.
- SonomaticcoreSister company under Vertech Group. AUAV, Sonomatic, and Geo Oceans collaborate on advanced inspection projects including the world's first BVLOS unmanned entry tank inspection with Shell and ABS.
- Geo OceanscoreSister company under Vertech Group specializing in underwater operations. Collaborates with AUAV on combined robotics and drone inspection campaigns.
- ShellflagshipMajor oil and gas operator. Collaborated with AUAV, Sonomatic, and Geo Oceans to achieve the world's first BVLOS unmanned entry 5-year COT tank inspection.
- American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)flagshipClassification society and maritime advisory organization. Partnered with AUAV, Sonomatic, and Geo Oceans on the world-first BVLOS unmanned entry tank inspection project.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights6 records
AUAV competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Percepto: Developer of autonomous drone-in-a-box inspection solutions for industrial sites (oil & gas, power, mining); competes with AUAV on inspection use cases through a fully autonomous hardware model rather than project-based services.
- Raptor Maps: Drone-based inspection and analytics platform purpose-built for solar PV asset management; intersects AUAV in solar thermal surveys (Rio Tinto case) but is more software/SaaS-led.
- Sharper Shape: Drone inspection services and asset management software for utilities and linear infrastructure (transmission lines, pipelines); adjacent competitor to AUAV's distribution pole and wind inspection lines.
- PrecisionHawk: Provider of drone-based data collection and analytics across energy, agriculture, and infrastructure; overlaps with AUAV on inspection/survey work but also covers adjacent verticals with a heavier software/analytics emphasis.
Broad incumbents
- Skydio: Leading US autonomous drone manufacturer whose enterprise customers increasingly run inspection programs in-house; represents a structural competitive threat and adjacent ecosystem participant to service-based firms like AUAV.
- DJI Enterprise: Dominant commercial drone hardware OEM whose platforms AUAV itself uses; while not a services competitor, DJI's enterprise ecosystem and channel partners shape AUAV's go-to-market economics and competitive landscape.
Direct peers
- Sky-Futures: Pioneer drone-based inspection provider for oil & gas and energy infrastructure with global operations; highly comparable to AUAV in target verticals, BVLOS capability, and enterprise sales motion.
- Cyberhawk Innovations: UK-based drone inspection services company specializing in oil & gas, utilities, and industrial asset inspections — direct competitor to AUAV in the same enterprise inspection niche with a similar services-plus-data offering.
- Measure (subsidiary of USI): US drone inspection and aerial data services firm serving energy, telecom and infrastructure; comparable to AUAV in service model, US presence, and enterprise inspection focus.
Others
- DroneDeploy: Drone data platform for mapping, progress tracking and asset inspection across construction, mining and energy; comparable to AUAV's inSite™/onSite software layer and a potential partner or competitor for inspection data workflows.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
AUAV social profiles
Digital presenceAUAV compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
AUAV financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
AUAV leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
AUAV funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
AUAV M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about AUAV
What does AUAV do?
AUAV provides professional drone-based industrial asset inspection, aerial survey, and mapping services for enterprise clients across oil and gas, energy, utilities, construction, and water infrastructure. Services are delivered using specialized drones equipped with LiDAR, thermal imaging, and RGB sensors, complemented by three proprietary software platforms (inSite™, onSite, and TenderPak™) that manage data from flight planning through to client-ready deliverables. The company also extends to underwater inspection via integration with Vertech Group sister companies using AUV/ROV subsea robotics.
Is AUAV a public or private company?
AUAV is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was AUAV founded?
AUAV was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is AUAV based?
AUAV is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, in the Oceania region.
How does AUAV make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Drone Inspection Services are the primary driver. The others are aerial Survey and Mapping and specialist Sensor Services.
Who are AUAV's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Percepto, Raptor Maps, Sharper Shape and PrecisionHawk. Broad incumbents are Skydio and DJI Enterprise. Direct peers are Sky-Futures, Cyberhawk Innovations and Measure (subsidiary of USI). DroneDeploy is listed as an others.
Does AUAV have an API?
No public API is recorded for AUAV.
What industry is AUAV in?
AUAV's product category is Drone Inspection Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUADAJAC, Inspection Services (Ground, Aerial/Drone, Helicopter, Climbing), with a secondary code of AFACAIAJ, Aerial Surveying & Crop Scouting (Imaging, Mapping, Stand Counts). Its NAICS code is 541360 and its SIC code is 8731.