The regulatory turbulence in Aerodyne’s drone flight to unicorn-dom

Malaysian drone-as-a-service (DaaS) provider Aerodyne Group hopes to be a billion-dollar company by 2025. The government wants to leverage its growth to turn Malaysia into a regional hub for drone companies. But regulations have yet to catch up

Founded in 2014, Aerodyne Group has two ambitious goals: to be Malaysia’s first tech unicorn and to go public in the US by 2025

Aerodyne uses drones to carry out asset inspection, maintenance for industries like energy, oil and gas, telco. Now, it’s also moving quickly into agriculture

Its meteoric rise got the Malaysian government to start paying attention to the drone tech space. It’s working to promote Malaysia as a regional hub for drone companies

But to achieve that, Malaysian regulators need to quickly catch up with the industry. One of the measures is the launch of a national sandbox

After losing Grab—Southeast Asia’s highest-valued private tech company—to Singapore, Malaysia could finally get its very own tech unicorn in the next few years.

Aerodyne Group, a drone-as-a-service (DaaS) company, has soared ever since it raised its first funding round—a double-digit millions investment from a local corporate venture fund, Axiata Digital Innovation Fund, in March 2018. It has since attracted investors such as Malaysia’s civil service pension fund KWAP, Japan’s Drone Fund, and China’s North Summit Capital.

The attention isn’t surprising, considering DaaS is expected to generate US$127 billion worldwide by 2025, while the industry in Malaysia would be worth US$300 million, according to market research firm Drone Industry Insights.

AUTHOR

Ka Kay Lum

Based in Kuala Lumpur, Ka Kay covers investment activities, aka following the money, across Southeast Asia and in-depth stories on the often-overlooked Malaysian startup ecosystem. She was previously a regional writer for Nikkei-owned DealStreetAsia.

View Full Profile

I look forward fervently to my daily long reads from The Ken featuring Yangon and Jakarta, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Saigon.

The Ken has changed the way insiders and outsiders alike learn about the Indian tech ecosystem. Considering the posse they gathered to cover Southeast Asia, I would expect nothing less from them for the new region - and this happens not a moment too soon.

Dmitry Levit / Founder and General Partner / Cento Ventures

It is this kind of reporting that will contribute to the maturation and vibrancy of the Southeast Asia tech ecosystem.

A lot of the tech news in our region is headline-driven. This makes it a race to break news and make things sound spicy, which in turn generates a lot of noise. I find The Ken's approach of releasing one well-researched article a day both relevant and refreshing.

Paul Santos / Managing Partner / Wavemaker Partners