ICAReS

What ICAReS does

ICAReS (Innovation Cluster Accelerating Remote Sensing) is a cross-border innovation cluster project, not a commercial company. It was launched in 2016 and concluded in February 2020, funded by the Interreg 2 Seas programme 2014-2020 co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. The project was led by the Municipality of Woensdrecht (Netherlands) and brought together twelve European partners spanning municipalities, SMEs, government institutions, and knowledge institutions across the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom. Its purpose was to develop and coordinate remote-sensing and advanced data communication and processing capabilities — primarily via UAVs and drones — for three priority sectors: Nature, Agriculture, and Water & Infrastructure.

The cluster's tangible assets and offerings include the Drone Demonstration Van (a mobile UAV facility with dual pilot workstations, 30x zoom HD tracking camera, GPS, plane tracking, and VHF radio, made available free to cluster SMEs during the project), the ICAReS Knowledge Platform (a multilingual community portal with sector-specific forums), an interactive map of European drone test and demonstration sites, a curated Free Remote Sensing Data portal aggregating access to Sentinel, AHN LiDAR, NASA Earthdata, and national geoportals, and downloadable reports covering regulation, legislation, SME analysis, and sector-specific demand aggregation. Technical capabilities documented across the cluster include NDVI generation, multispectral and thermal imaging, LiDAR and photogrammetry, live NDVI video streaming during drone flights, and GPS-guided automated farm mapping. ICAReS also co-created the Dutch Drone Center Aviolanda (opened September 2019), the first dedicated drone test center in southern Netherlands.

ICAReS does not sell commercial products or services and has no disclosed revenue. Its operations were sustained by EU grant funding under a time-limited programme, with project leadership vested in a single named project leader (Sven Willemsen) and governance shared across partner institutions. The project aggregated demand across the three priority sectors, harmonized cross-border drone regulation through a dedicated Task Force Group, and built community infrastructure (events, conferences, demonstration days, and a knowledge platform) to accelerate SME adoption of remote-sensing technology. Following the closure event on February 18, 2020, active cluster operations ended, though legacy resources (the website, knowledge platform, and physical DDC infrastructure) remain accessible.

Name

ICAReS

Legal name

ICARES (Innovation Cluster Accelerating Remote Sensing)

Website

https://icaresproject.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

ICAReS was a cross-border EU-funded innovation cluster (2016-2020) under the Interreg 2 Seas programme that aggregated demand and accelerated remote-sensing and drone adoption across Nature, Agriculture, and Water & Infrastructure sectors in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and UK.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Remote Sensing and Drone Technology Innovation Services

NAICS

Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (541360), Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (54137), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

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

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHDAAAEAL

Remote Sensing & Geospatial Vision (satellite/drone imagery)

Hardware, Technology & Telecom/Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning/Computer Vision & Video Analytics

SECONDARYBPAMANAM

Satellite Imagery & Remote Sensing Geospatial Platforms

Business & Public Services/Web, Mobile & Digital Platforms/Maps, Location & Navigation Platforms

SECONDARYIMABAIAO

UAS Integration, Certification & Compliance Systems (Remote ID, Detect-and-Avoid)

Industrials, Manufacturing & Construction/Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing/Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones) & Autonomous Platforms

SECONDARYAFACAIAJ

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

Agriculture & Food Production/Agricultural Services (Custom Farming, Agronomy, Veterinary)/Agricultural Aerial Services (Crop Dusting, Drone Application)

Keywords

• Remote sensing
• Drone technology
• Innovation cluster
• Precision agriculture
• UAV applications

Headquarters

HQ city

Netherlands

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ICAReS is a cross-border innovation cluster project that develops and promotes remote sensing and advanced data communication & processing for drone applications across three priority sectors: Nature, Agriculture, and Water & Infrastructure in the 2 Seas Region (Netherlands, Belgium, France, UK). It aggregates demand from end users, SMEs, government institutions, and knowledge institutions to accelerate creation of innovative remote sensing products and services, and operates a Drone Demonstration Van, a community knowledge platform, and drone test/demosite resources.

Product overview

ICAReS (Innovation Cluster Accelerating Remote Sensing) is a cross-border innovation cluster focused on remote sensing and advanced data communication & processing for priority sectors of Nature, Agriculture, and Water & Infrastructure. The organization offers a portfolio of interconnected products and services: the ICARES Drone Demonstration Van as a mobile UAV testing facility; the ICAReS Knowledge Platform community portal for knowledge sharing; test and demosites infrastructure for drone testing across Europe; a Free Remote Sensing Data portal aggregating access to satellite and LiDAR data sources; and downloadable reports and publications covering sector-specific remote sensing applications and regulatory guidance. The cluster also contributed to establishing the Dutch Drone Center Aviolanda as permanent testing infrastructure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ICAReS Drone Demonstration Van A standalone mobile UAV/Drone demonstration facility equipped with dual pilot workstations (4 monitors each), a central computer system, 30x zoom Pan-Tilt-Rotate HD tracking camera, GPS receiver, plane tracking system, VHF air traffic radio, and extendable solar-screen. Available free of charge for SMEs in the ICAReS cluster during the project period, and afterward for a low maintenance fee.
• ICAReS Knowledge Platform (Community Forum) An online community forum for sharing knowledge about remote sensing among members from agriculture, water/infrastructure, nature, research institutions, and general drone information sectors. Features discussion forums, knowledge sharing, member registration, and per-sector subcommunities (Agriculture, Water and Infra, Nature, Knowledge and Research, General Drone Information).
• Test and Demosites for Drones (European Map) An interactive map of drone test and demonstration sites across Europe. Companies can view and access testing facilities by clicking on markers to view site details, enabling discovery of testing infrastructure across the region.
• Free Remote Sensing Data Portal A curated collection of links to free remote sensing data sources including AHN (LiDAR data for Netherlands), Streetmap, Google Earth, Terrascope (Sentinel I, II, III), EODaS Open LiDAR, UK Government Data, Natural England, Earthdata NASA, and various regional government geoportals. Aggregates access to satellite and LiDAR datasets.
• ICAReS Reports and Publications Downloadable reports covering remote sensing needs, demand aggregation, test site organization, regulation and legislation, SME analyses, and action plans for agriculture, nature, and water infrastructure sectors. Includes conference presentations from Amsterdam Drone Week and the Innovations in Remote Sensing conference.
• Dutch Drone Center Aviolanda (DDC) The first drone test center in southern Netherlands, offering companies and institutions space to test drones safely. Includes an indoor Drone Lab and outdoor testing at the Woensdrecht air base runway. Co-created by ICAReS and the province of Noord Brabant, with involvement of the Municipality of Woensdrecht, NLR, Aviolanda, and Royal Netherlands Air Force.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Dutch Drone Center Aviolanda (DDC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 September 2019Co-created by ICAReS (Interreg) and Province of Noord Brabant. First drone test center in southern Netherlands offering companies and institutions space to test drones safely. Also involves Municipality of Woensdrecht, NLR, Aviolanda, and Royal Netherlands Air Force.
• Gemeente WoensdrechtcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Lead municipality partner hosting ICAReS headquarters. Mayor Steven Adriaansen has been instrumental in the project's success. The municipality received the Catherine Fargeon Award for the ICAReS drone deployment.
• Vlaamse WaterwegcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFlemish waterway authority participating in the Water & Infrastructure sector focus of ICAReS.
• Skeye BV / TerraDronecoreTechnology or IntegrationDrone technology provider and ICAReS partner. Pieter Franken serves as Managing Director. Skeye has provided drone demonstrations at events including the Woensdrecht Farmers Day and Class Farmers educational visits.
• ILVO (Instituut voor Landbouw- en Visserijonderzoek)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFlemish Institute for Agricultural, Fisheries and Food Research. Contributed presentations on remote sensing potential in agribusiness at the 2017 Innovations in Remote Sensing conference.
• University of SouthamptoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner contributing knowledge and research capabilities to the ICAReS innovation cluster.
• RewinsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional development agency in the Netherlands participating in the ICAReS project.
• Kent County CouncilsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK partner contributing to the Kent Downs area focus of ICAReS, including presentations on heritage conservation using LiDAR and UAVs.
• Geo-InfrasupportingTechnology or IntegrationGeo-infrastructure technology partner in the ICAReS network.
• ZLTO (Zuidelijke Land- en Tuinbouworganisatie)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgricultural organization representing farmers in the southern Netherlands, partner in the agriculture sector focus.
• DARPAsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerDefense Advanced Research Projects Agency, international partner in the ICAReS innovation cluster.
• CitcsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization visible in ICAReS partners logo section.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Pix4D: Photogrammetry and drone-mapping software suite for surveying, agriculture, and inspection — overlaps with ICAReS's LiDAR, photogrammetry, and multispectral processing capabilities for the same end markets.
• senseFly (Parrot): Manufacturer of fixed-wing and quadcopter drones for surveying, agriculture, and inspection — directly comparable to ICAReS's drone technology partners (Skeye/TerraDrone) and the Drone Demo Van's purpose of demonstrating commercial UAVs to SMEs.
• DroneDeploy: Cloud-based drone mapping and analytics platform serving agriculture, construction, and infrastructure — directly comparable to ICAReS's remote sensing software/applications layer for the same priority sectors.
• Delair: Industrial drone manufacturer and aerial data analytics provider for surveying, agriculture, and infrastructure — comparable to ICAReS's cluster of commercial drone SMEs and remote sensing applications across the same three priority sectors.

Broad incumbents

• Esri: GIS and geospatial analytics platform with extensive remote sensing and mapping capabilities — broader incumbent covering the same geospatial/remote sensing value chain that ICAReS aggregates demand for across nature, agriculture, and water.
• Trimble: Geospatial solutions for surveying, agriculture, and infrastructure — established player in the same vertical sectors ICAReS targets, with comparable positioning around remote sensing data integration and field operations.
• DJI Enterprise: Dominant commercial and enterprise drone manufacturer with broad agriculture, infrastructure, and public-safety applications — relevant incumbent whose ecosystem ICAReS's SME cluster either competes against or integrates with.

Others

• European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN): Brussels-based network of European regional research and innovation actors — comparable as a cross-border innovation ecosystem operating under EU structural funding, similar in institutional form to ICAReS's Interreg consortium model.

Emerging players

• Unifly: U-space and drone traffic management platform enabling compliant UAV operations — adjacent to ICAReS's regulatory harmonization work across borders and UAV operations enablement for SMEs in the 2 Seas Region.

Regional players

• DronePort: Drone test and business center in Belgium (another 2 Seas Region actor) focused on UAV commercialization — directly comparable to ICAReS's Dutch Drone Center Aviolanda (DDC) and Drone Demo Van as physical test/demonstration infrastructure for drone SMEs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Icaresproject
• Facebookfacebook.com/ICAReSproject

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ICAReS