Saudi Aramco's venture capital arm Wa’ed Ventures has led a $14 million funding round for a Japanese start-up specialising in drone services, as the fund backs new technologies in line with the kingdom's economic diversification push.
Wa’ed Ventures' backing of Tokyo-based Terra Drone is the $200 million fund's first investment in Asia, after expanding its mandate last year to target global companies, said a joint statement on Wednesday.
Through this investment, Terra Drone plans to open a new subsidiary in Saudi Arabia to localise its drone services and continue to serve the global autonomous vehicles market, the statement said.
“Supported by the global track record of Terra Drone, our investment represents Wa’ed’s commitment towards building the UAM [urban air mobility] ecosystem in the kingdom, one that circles around sustainable economy” Fahad Alidi, managing director of Wa’ed Ventures, said.
“We foresee rapid adoption for drone services in numerous industries, and Terra Drone is well-positioned to localise their proprietary technology across the region, starting with the kingdom.”
The investment to bring new drone tech to the Arab world's biggest economy comes amid the kingdom's plans to attract new business, diversify non-oil revenue streams and become a local hub for advanced technologies.
The global addressable market for autonomous aircraft is projected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2040, creating opportunities for investors and benefiting various sectors, according to research by Morgan Stanley. Its more bullish forecast places the market at $2.9 trillion.
Wa’ed Ventures’ investment comes on top of the $83 million already raised in previous funding rounds by Terra Drone.
Some of Asia's largest institutional investors participated in the earlier Series A and Series B funding rounds, including Mitsui & Co, SBI Investment Co, Tokyu Land Corporation and Seika Corporation.
Founded in 2016, Terra Drone now operates in more than 25 countries, with customers including Toshiba, France's oil major TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and Chevron, according to its website.
It specialises in geographic data acquisition, industrial inspections and high-end aerial imagery, using unmanned aircraft.
With a workforce of 500 employees, Terra Drone provides services in sectors including oil and gas, utilities, renewables, mining and construction, among others.
The company provides drone hardware and cloud-based software in more than 1,000 projects, the statement said.
Wa'ed Ventures seeks to invest in high-growth tech start-ups across various sectors.
Established in 2013 and based in the eastern city of Dhahran, Wa'ed Ventures manages a portfolio of more than 50 start-ups, providing loan financing, venture capital investment and incubation services.
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World Cup final
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It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
