ISight Drone Services

What ISight Drone Services does

ISight Drone Services is an employee-owned, privately held unmanned aerial systems (UAS) operator headquartered in Grand Forks, North Dakota, providing professional drone-based aerial data collection services to enterprise clients. The company was formed through the 2017 merger of Unmanned Applications Institute International (UAI, founded 2011 by current CEO Tommy Kenville) and ISight Drone Services (founded 2014 by Adam Lingwall and Nathan Leben), creating Midwest Drone Group. It operates additional offices in Fargo and Watford City, North Dakota, and Bloomington, Minnesota, and claims service coverage across 47-48 U.S. states.

The firm's service portfolio spans aerial inspections, 2D orthomosaic and 3D modeling, LiDAR scanning, emergency-response aerial support, drone pressure washing, and specialized offerings such as infrared solar panel inspections and TerraClear-enabled agricultural rock mapping. Core technology relies on commercial drone platforms equipped with high-resolution cameras, thermal imaging, and LiDAR sensors — there is no indication of proprietary hardware or in-house AI/ML pipelines. The team of 46+ personnel includes 29 certified UAS pilots, 17 commercial manned pilots, certified flight instructors, and accumulated 30,000+ hours of flight experience, with all members holding bachelor's degrees from the University of North Dakota.

Commercially, ISight operates a project-based B2B professional services model with custom-quoted pricing, multi-year contracts at the enterprise layer, and direct field sales as the primary go-to-market motion. Customer segments include renewable energy (wind and solar), utilities/power infrastructure, construction, telecommunications, oil & gas, agriculture, insurance, and government/emergency services — nine verticals served through a mix of direct enterprise engagement and channel partnerships (notably TerraClear and Olson Construction for rock mapping in the Thief River Falls area). The firm has been awarded $50,000 through Project RuralReach, a University of North Dakota Center for Innovation initiative testing rural UAS applications. No revenue, funding rounds, or major-customer concentration is publicly disclosed.

Name

ISight Drone Services

Legal name

iSight Drones

Website

https://isightdrones.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ISight Drone Services is an employee-owned, Grand Forks, ND-based commercial UAS operator providing aerial inspections, mapping, and LiDAR services to enterprise clients across wind, solar, utilities, construction, telecom, oil & gas, agriculture, insurance, and government verticals in 48 U.S. states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Aerial Drone Inspection Services

NAICS

Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (54136), Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance (811210)

SIC

Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827), Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

Aerial Application Drones & UAS Spray Systems (AFAAADAB), Aerial Pesticide/Herbicide/Fungicide Application (AFACAIAE), Aerial Fertilizer & Micronutrient Application (AFACAIAD)

Keywords

• Aerial inspection services
• Drone mapping services
• Commercial UAV operations
• Thermal imaging inspections
• Infrastructure inspection drones

Headquarters

HQ city

Grand Forks

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Drone Services (Inspections & Mapping): Professional drone services including aerial inspections, mapping, and data analysis for various industries. Services include infrared solar inspections, commercial roof inspections, 2D orthomosaic mapping, 3D modeling, LiDAR, and rock mapping. Revenue generated from service contracts and project-based work for enterprise clients.
2. Emergency Response Services: Drone services for emergency response operations, providing rapid aerial data collection and inspection capabilities for disaster response situations.
3. Agricultural Drone Services: Precision agriculture drone services including crop health monitoring, storm damage assessment, and agricultural mapping for farmers and agricultural experts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

iSight Drone Services is a commercial drone services company that deploys unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to perform aerial inspections, mapping, LiDAR scanning, and emergency response data collection for enterprise clients. Services span wind turbine, solar panel, power line, cell tower, oil field, construction site, agriculture, and insurance inspection use cases, using thermal imaging, LiDAR, and high-resolution camera payloads operated by certified pilots across 48 states.

Product overview

ISight Drone Services provides a unified portfolio of drone-based aerial data collection services, combining core inspection, mapping, and specialized services. The core offerings include Aerial Inspections (using thermal imaging and high-resolution cameras for power lines, cell towers, wind turbines, solar panels, oil fields, and construction), Aerial Mapping (2D orthomosaic mapping and 3D modeling), LiDAR scanning, and Emergency Response. Specialized services include Infrared Solar Inspections, Rock Mapping (via TerraClear partnership), Drone Pressure Washing, and Insurance Inspections for property damage claims. The company operates across 47-48 states with a team of 29 certified UAS pilots and 17 commercial manned pilots.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Aerial Inspections Drone-based aerial inspection services for infrastructure including power lines, cell towers, wind turbines, solar panels, oil fields, and construction sites, using high-resolution cameras and advanced sensors to capture detailed imagery and video for enterprise asset managers.
• Aerial Mapping Precision aerial mapping services including 2D orthomosaic mapping and 3D modeling for construction, agriculture, and infrastructure applications.
• Emergency Response Drone services deployed for emergency response operations including storm damage assessment and disaster recovery support for government and enterprise clients.
• LiDAR Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scanning services for detailed topographic mapping and terrain analysis, supporting infrastructure and land surveying use cases.
• Rock Mapping Drone-based rock mapping services using TerraClear software to accurately locate rocks in agricultural fields, enabling efficient rock picking operations to prevent costly equipment damage.
• Drone Pressure Washing Aerial pressure washing services using drone technology for building and infrastructure cleaning applications.
• Infrared Solar Inspections Thermal imaging inspections for solar panels to detect hotspots, cracks, or defects that may affect panel performance for solar developers and asset operators.
• Insurance Inspections Drone-based property damage assessments for insurance claims, including damage from high winds, hail, hurricanes, and crop damage evaluation.

Quantifiable outcome

• 132,500+ wind turbines inspected
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles9 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of North Dakota Center for InnovationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 March 2025iSight Drone Services was one of three drone companies awarded $50,000 through Project RuralReach, a University of North Dakota Center for Innovation initiative. The six-month testing program explores operational capabilities and business questions needed to scale drone technology in rural areas, including medical and agricultural deliveries and emergency response operations. The project leverages North Dakota UAS institutions including the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences and the Northern Plains UAS Test Site.
• TerraClearcoreTechnology or Integration · 13 March 2025iSight Drone Services (Grand Forks) partnered with TerraClear as an authorized Sales & Service Provider to deliver high-tech rock mapping and custom rock picking services using advanced drone technology and TerraClear software. This partnership covers a 150-mile radius surrounding Thief River Falls, providing farmers with state-of-the-art solutions to manage rocks on their fields and prevent costly equipment damage.
• Olson Construction (Thief River Falls)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 March 2025ISight Drone Services and Olson Construction partnered together as part of the TerraClear partnership to provide drone-based rock mapping and rock picking services. Olson Construction provides skilled operators while iSight Drone Services provides aviation expertise and drone pilots. The collaboration leverages both companies' expertise to deliver rock management services to local farmers in the Thief River Falls area.
• SkyelinkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSkyelink is identified as one of iSight Drone Services' top partners. Skyelink CEO Leo Adams describes iSight as providing consistent high-quality drone services including infrared solar inspections, commercial roof inspections, 2D orthomosaic mapping, and 3D modeling captures according to specifications.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sentera: Sentera is an agricultural drone sensor and analytics company and a named iSight customer. While Sentera leans software/sensor, it competes and partners for the same precision-agriculture aerial data collection workload that iSight serves.
• PrecisionHawk: PrecisionHawk is a drone data and analytics company providing aerial inspection and mapping services for infrastructure, energy, and agriculture. It directly overlaps iSight's renewables, utility, and agricultural inspection offerings at greater scale.
• Cyberhawk: Cyberhawk is a global leader in drone-based inspection for oil & gas, utilities, and renewables. Its oil & gas, power-line, and wind turbine inspection workflows mirror iSight's high-value verticals with similar LiDAR/thermal imaging payloads.
• Sharper Shape: Sharper Shape specializes in drone-based inspections for utilities, with particular depth in power-line and transmission corridor inspection. It targets the same utility inspection vertical as iSight using comparable aerial inspection data capture.
• SkySkopes: SkySkopes is a UAS services operator also headquartered in the upper Midwest serving utilities, energy, and infrastructure with inspection and mapping drones. Overlapping geographic base (ND-adjacent) and target verticals make it the closest direct competitor to iSight.
• Sky-Futures (OPTIM): Sky-Futures pioneered drone inspection in oil & gas and industrial verticals and now operates as OPTIM. It directly competes with iSight in oil & gas, power line, and infrastructure inspection using comparable thermal/LiDAR sensor stacks.

Broad incumbents

• Skydio: Skydio is a leading US-made autonomous drone manufacturer increasingly offering inspection workflows and partner services for utilities, public safety, and construction. While primarily hardware, its inspection positioning and 'inspection-ready' product roadmap make it a broader incumbent adjacent to iSight's services business.
• Aerodyne Group: Aerodyne is one of the largest global drone-based enterprise solutions providers, offering inspection, surveying, and asset management across utilities, oil & gas, and infrastructure. It is a broader incumbent than iSight, with overlapping capabilities in industrial aerial inspection at significantly larger scale.
• Terra Drone: Terra Drone Corporation is a global drone services and technology provider with operations in surveying, inspection, and mining. Its industrial inspection, power-line, and oil & gas work overlaps iSight's verticals, at much larger scale and geographic breadth.
• Measure (AgEagle Aerial Systems): Measure, now part of AgEagle, built a national drone inspection services franchise serving telecom, energy, and public safety — all iSight verticals. AgEagle's broader UAV hardware-and-data platform makes it a wider portfolio incumbent overlapping iSight's inspection services business.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/isight-rpv
• Facebookfacebook.com/isightdrones

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

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 ISight Drone Services