Wa’ed Ventures Leads $14 Million Bridge Round for Terra Drone, the Global Drone and Urban Air Mobility company, to Support its Expansion to Saudi Arabia

Terra Drone, the Japan-based leading drone and Urban Air Mobility technology (UAM), announces closing a $14 million bridge round led by Wa’ed Ventures, the Kingdom-focused venture capital arm of Aramco.

Through this investment, Terra Drone plans to open a new subsidiary in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to localize its drone services as well as to continue to serve the global autonomous vehicles market expected to grow to $1.5 trillion by 2040, as projected by Morgan Stanley.

Terra Drone has been in business since 2016, the dawn of the drone era, with a mission to evolve the world from the sky,” said Toru Tokushige, founder and CEO of Terra Drone Corporation. “Six years later, we are now approaching a future where drones and aerial vehicles will no longer be a novelty. We have built up a solid track record both domestically and internationally up to this point, and have grown to be recognized as the top drone service provider in the world. Saudi Aramco’s investment in Terra Drone through its VC arm Wa’ed Ventures is another example of the global recognition for our achievements, which raises the expectations for our team as we continue to push forward and lead Terra Drone to the forefront of the global innovation track.”

“Supported by the global track record of Terra Drone, our investment represents Wa’ed’s commitment towards building the UAM ecosystem in the Kingdom, one that circles around sustainable economy” said Fahad Alidi, Managing Director at Wa’ed Ventures.  “We foresee rapid adoption for drone services in numerous industries, and Terra Drone is well-positioned to localize their proprietary technology across the region, starting with the Kingdom.”

Wa’ed Ventures’ investment comes as additional support to the $83 million already raised in previous funding rounds by Terra Drone. Earlier rounds included participation from Mitsui & Co. Ltd, SBI Investment Co. Ltd, Tokyu Land Corporation, and Seika Corporations; some of the largest institutional investors in the Asian market.

The company has been recognized as one of the world’s largest providers of industrial drone solutions and has ranked number two in the “Drones Services Company Worldwide Ranking, 2022”, conducted by the global drone market research organization, Drone Industry Insights.

The startup has served more than 10 countries worldwide since its founding in 2016, providing drone hardware and cloud-based software in over 1,000 projects, with an aim to create a “drone and air mobility-based society”, according to the founder.