Due to a lack of pilots and resources, can air surveillance be democratized? The startup Rift, founded two years ago in Essonne, is betting on that. The young company raised 4.6 million euros on November 20 from AlleyCorp funds, with the participation of OVNI Capital. This investment is expected to accelerate the deployment of real-time airborne intelligence networks, a new model of aerial surveillance, which can be accessed on demand.
In concrete terms, Rift places long-endurance drones, with a wingspan of three meters, in container-sized stations spread across the region. Depending on the mission and command, these devices can take off on request and monitor sensitive areas on behalf of various clients, public services such as firefighters or gendarmerie, but also industry for infrastructure control.
