Rocketmine
RocketDNA (Rocketmine) is an enterprise drone-based geospatial data and autonomous Drone-in-a-Box (xBot) operator founded in 2013, serving mining, agriculture, energy, and security majors across Australia, South Africa, and Ghana with AI-powered volumetric, inspection, and surveillance data products.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersJohannesburg, South Africa
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Rocketmine does
RocketDNA Ltd, operating under the brands Rocketmine and RocketDNA, is an enterprise drone-based geospatial data and autonomous operations company founded in 2013. The company is headquartered in Osborne Park, Western Australia, with regional operations in South Africa (Sandton) and Ghana (Accra), serving enterprise customers across mining, energy/utilities, agriculture, construction, and security on two continents. Its customer base skews heavily toward major mining houses including AngloGold Ashanti, Anglo American, Newmont, Newcrest, South32, Pilbara Minerals, Northern Star, Seriti, Exxaro, Vedanta, 29 Metals, SFTP Mining, and Goviex, supplemented by agricultural clients (Bayer, Syngenta) and construction operators (WBHO, Boral).
The company's core technology is the xBot platform, a Drone-in-a-Box system that pairs autonomous aircraft with AI-enabled geospatial analytics to perform volumetric reporting, perimeter patrol, thermal inspection, and 3D modelling without on-site personnel. The xBot family comprises SurveyBot (autonomous survey/mapping), PatrolBot (24/7 thermal perimeter monitoring at 640x512 resolution), and InspectBot (remote thermal and RGB inspections), complemented by nine specialized Data Products (AeroMap, FarmCount, IntelliSky, LeakDetect, PitComply, PitView, RoadSense, SkyPatrol, SolarInspect). The architecture relies on BVLOS approval from civil aviation authorities and BARS safety verification in both South Africa and Australia, integrates low-earth-orbit satellite connectivity for global deployment, and is operated from 24/7 remote operations centres supporting swarm deployment.
The business model combines three revenue streams: (1) subscription/usage-based drone-captured data products delivered to enterprise customers; (2) hardware sale or lease of xBot platforms; and (3) Outsourced Remote Operations sold on a Pay Per Flight basis that allows customers to outsource regulatory-ready autonomous operations without capital outlay. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales executed through three regional offices, supplemented by DJI Enterprise (hardware distribution) and Strayos (AI-powered mining insights) channel and technology partnerships. Pricing is quote-based on multi-year enterprise contracts and is not publicly disclosed. The firm also monetizes an aviation training academy spanning RPC, BVLOS, CRM, Dangerous Goods, AVSEC, Executive Drone, and Rocket Launch Automation courses.
Rocketmine firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Rocketmine
- Legal name
- RocketDNA Ltd
- Website
- https://rocketmine.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- RocketDNA (Rocketmine) is an enterprise drone-based geospatial data and autonomous Drone-in-a-Box (xBot) operator founded in 2013, serving mining, agriculture, energy, and security majors across Australia, South Africa, and Ghana with AI-powered volumetric, inspection, and surveillance data products.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Rocketmine industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Commercial Drone Services
- NAICS
- Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (541360), Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (541370), Support Activities for Mining (213)
- SIC
- Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812), Construction, Mining & Materials Handling Machinery & Equip (3530)
- akta.pro primary industry
- UAS Ground Control Stations (GCS) & Remote Operations Infrastructure (IMABAIAL)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Drone/UAV Data Capture & Processing Software (AFAAAFAH), Remote Sensing & Geospatial Vision (satellite/drone imagery) (HDAAAEAL), Drone/UAS Application Services (Spraying, Spreading, Seeding) (AFACAIAB)
Keywords
Where Rocketmine is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Johannesburg
- HQ country
- South Africa
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices4 records
Markets served
Rocketmine business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Drone-based Geospatial Data Solutions: Subscription and usage-based model providing drone-captured data products including volumetric analysis, pit conformance reporting, security patrols, and solar inspections for enterprise customers
- xBot Platform (Drone-in-a-Box): Autonomous drone systems sold or leased to enterprise customers for automated remote monitoring, inspections, and surveillance operations
- Outsourced Remote Operations: Pay Per Flight model offering regulatory-ready autonomous drone operations with power and communications redundancy, enabling enterprise customers to outsource drone operations
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Outsourced Remote Operations - Pay Per Flight |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Enterprise Solutions - Custom Pricing |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Rocketmine product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Rocketmine (operating under the RocketDNA brand) provides drone-based geospatial data solutions and autonomous drone-in-a-box (xBot) systems for enterprise customers in mining, agriculture, energy, construction, and security sectors. The company delivers automated stockpile volume reporting, pit conformance reporting, aerial surveying, solar inspections, pipeline leak detection, and 24/7 perimeter surveillance through AI-powered data products and autonomous xBot units operated from remote operating centres. Revenue is generated through subscription/usage-based geospatial data services, hardware sales or leasing of xBot units, and pay-per-flight outsourced remote operations contracts with regulatory-ready deployments (BVLOS, BARS-verified).
Product overview
RocketDNA offers a comprehensive drone-based geospatial data and autonomous operations platform organised into three main categories: Data Products (9 specialised services for aerial surveying, mining, agriculture, and security applications), xBots Drone-in-a-Box (4 autonomous drone units plus outsourced operations for enterprise deployment), and Hardware & Software partnerships (DJI Enterprise and Strayos AI). The portfolio is unified by AI-powered processing that enables automated volumetric reporting, 3D modelling, thermal inspections, and 24/7 perimeter monitoring, with regulatory certifications for BARS safety verification and BVLOS long-range operations. The company also provides aviation training courses for drone pilots.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- xBot Platform: Drone-in-a-box autonomous robotics platform for enterprise remote data capture
- InspectBot
- PatrolBot
- SurveyBot
- AeroMap
- FarmCount
- IntelliSky
- LeakDetect
- PitComply
- PitView
- RoadSense
- SkyPatrol
- SolarInspect
Products and services
- AeroMap Drone-based aerial surveying and mapping solution that captures high-resolution geographic data across construction, mining, and agricultural sites for enterprise customers.
- FarmCount Drone-based quantification service that measures plant counts and livestock inventory for large agricultural operations.
- IntelliSky Drone-based reconnaissance and security service for airspace monitoring and threat detection at enterprise sites.
- LeakDetect Automated pipeline inspection service using drones to detect leaks and monitor infrastructure integrity for pipeline operators.
- PitComply Open-pit conformance reporting service that verifies mining excavation compliance against design specifications for mining operators.
- PitView Drone-based open-pit 3D modelling service that creates detailed terrain models of mining excavations for mining operators.
- RoadSense Haul road intelligence, optimisation and de-risking solution for mining logistics and vehicle safety in open-pit mining operations.
- SkyPatrol Drone-based perimeter and security service for continuous surveillance of facilities and infrastructure for enterprise security customers.
- SolarInspect Solar inspection service using drones to assess solar panel condition and identify maintenance needs for solar farm operators.
- InspectBot Autonomous drone-in-a-box unit for remote video, photo and thermal inspections of infrastructure, designed to remove humans from unsafe or hard-to-reach areas.
- PatrolBot Autonomous drone-in-a-box unit for 24/7 aerial perimeter patrol with thermal 640x512 resolution and live HD video streaming capabilities.
Quantifiable outcome
- Removes humans from unsafe or hard-to-reach areas through autonomous drone operations
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Rocketmine
Customer profileNamed customers19 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Rocketmine technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability8 records
Feature5 records
Rocketmine partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- DJI EnterprisecoreDJI Enterprise is a partner and distributor of drone hardware, sensors, and accessories for RocketDNA's solutions. DJI is a leading global drone manufacturer providing the hardware foundation for their geospatial data collection services.
- StrayoscoreStrayos provides AI-powered insights for mining operations integrated with RocketDNA's drone-based data collection. The partnership enables enhanced data analytics and actionable intelligence for mining customers.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Rocketmine competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Skydio: Skydio's autonomous drones and Skydio Dock provide drone-in-a-box capabilities for enterprise inspection and mapping. It overlaps with Rocketmine's autonomous xBot fleet and AI-driven data capture for industrial and security use cases.
- DroneDeploy: DroneDeploy provides a drone-data platform for mapping, progress tracking, and analytics across construction, mining, and agriculture. It overlaps directly with Rocketmine's aerial surveying and volumetric reporting data products.
- Kespry: Kespry offers drone-based aerial intelligence for mining, aggregates, and construction — including stockpile volumetrics and site mapping. It addresses the same enterprise verticals and use cases as Rocketmine's AeroMap, PitView, and PitComply.
- Pix4D: Pix4D provides photogrammetry software that turns drone imagery into 3D models, point clouds, and orthomosaics used in mining, construction, and agriculture. It is comparable to the geospatial-processing layer behind Rocketmine's data products.
- Microdrones: Microdrones manufactures integrated surveying drone systems (mdLiDAR, mdMapper) used for mapping and volumetric analysis in mining, construction, and infrastructure. It is comparable to the aerial-surveying hardware layer supporting Rocketmine's data products.
- PrecisionHawk: PrecisionHawk combines drone-based data capture with analytics for asset inspection, surveying, and agriculture. It overlaps with Rocketmine's drone-data solutions across multiple verticals.
- Airobotics: Airobotics builds autonomous drone-in-a-box systems (Optimus) used at mining and industrial sites for surveying, security, and inspection. It is one of the closest direct competitors to Rocketmine's xBot platform in mining-vertical autonomous drone operations.
- senseFly (Parrot): senseFly produces fixed-wing mapping drones and eMotion software used for surveying and volumetric analysis in mining and construction. It is comparable to Rocketmine's AeroMap and SurveyBot offerings on the data-product side.
- Percepto: Percepto offers autonomous drone-in-a-box solutions (Sparrow/Iris) for industrial inspections and security, including mining and energy sites. It competes head-to-head with Rocketmine's xBot platform in the same autonomous-aerial-data use cases for enterprise customers.
Broad incumbents
- DJI Enterprise: DJI Enterprise is both RocketDNA's drone-hardware partner and a broad incumbent with the Matrice line, DJI Dock, and FlightHub. As a global drone-hardware leader, it could expand into autonomous drone-in-a-box services that overlap with Rocketmine's xBot platform.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Rocketmine social profiles
Digital presenceRocketmine compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Rocketmine financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Rocketmine leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Rocketmine subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries3 records
Rocketmine funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Rocketmine 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 Rocketmine
What does Rocketmine do?
Rocketmine (operating under the RocketDNA brand) provides drone-based geospatial data solutions and autonomous drone-in-a-box (xBot) systems for enterprise customers in mining, agriculture, energy, construction, and security sectors. The company delivers automated stockpile volume reporting, pit conformance reporting, aerial surveying, solar inspections, pipeline leak detection, and 24/7 perimeter surveillance through AI-powered data products and autonomous xBot units operated from remote operating centres. Revenue is generated through subscription/usage-based geospatial data services, hardware sales or leasing of xBot units, and pay-per-flight outsourced remote operations contracts with regulatory-ready deployments (BVLOS, BARS-verified).
Is Rocketmine a public or private company?
Rocketmine is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Rocketmine founded?
Rocketmine was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Rocketmine based?
Rocketmine is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, in the Africa region.
How does Rocketmine make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Drone-based Geospatial Data Solutions are the primary driver. The others are xBot Platform (Drone-in-a-Box) and outsourced Remote Operations.
Who are Rocketmine's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Skydio, DroneDeploy, Kespry, Pix4D, Microdrones, PrecisionHawk, Airobotics, senseFly (Parrot) and Percepto. DJI Enterprise is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Rocketmine have an API?
No public API is recorded for Rocketmine.
What industry is Rocketmine in?
Rocketmine's product category is Commercial Drone Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMABAIAL, UAS Ground Control Stations (GCS) & Remote Operations Infrastructure, with a secondary code of AFAAAFAH, Drone/UAV Data Capture & Processing Software. Its NAICS code is 541360 and its SIC code is 3812.