The Travelers Companies has made a strategic investment in Kittyhawk, a developer of enterprise drone operations software based in San Francisco, CA.
A release said that Travelers’ investment will help Kittyhawk bring “unified drone operations” to new markets.
Travelers was one of the first insurance companies to integrate drone operations into its claim inspections when it launched its drone program in 2016. At present, Travelers has nearly 600 dedicated claim professionals that are FAA-certified drone pilots.
As Travelers’ drone program grew, so did the opportunity to leverage the data and the task of managing compliance and safety requirements – a task Kittyhawk has stepped up to.
Kittyhawk’s platform features what it calls “unified drone operations” – a combination of drone fleet asset management, pre- and post-flight planning, team management, real-time video streaming, and drone application integration services. With Kittyhawk, companies no longer need to rely on a dizzying array of apps, license agreements, support procedures, and different vendors for their drone operations.
“Using drones to assess property damage enables us to enhance our customers’ experience, adjust claims more quickly and efficiently and improve safety for our employees and vendors,” said Travelers executive vice-president of claims services Nick Seminara.
“Kittyhawk helps us manage the vast amounts of information we gather on inspections so we can help our customers recover from disasters faster than ever before. We continue to leverage new technologies in our business, including within our drone program, and we are pleased to further our relationship with Kittyhawk,” Seminara added.
“Travelers is a model for other companies to follow when scaling a drone program,” commented Kittyhawk co-founder and CEO Jon Hegranes. “We’re excited to deepen our relationship with a trusted industry leader as we bring drone operations to new industries. Our focus at Kittyhawk is continuing to build the best tools that make using drones approachable and effective. Every company can be a drone company.”
