Axon and Skydio Partner to Bring US-Manufactured, AI-Powered Autonomous Drones to Public Safety

Exclusive partnership unlocks breakthrough real-time situational awareness with autonomous drones

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Mar 11, 2021, 07:30 ET

SEATTLE, March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Axon (Nasdaq: AXON), the global leader in connected public safety technologies, and Skydio, the leading U.S. drone manufacturer and world leader in autonomous flight, today announced a strategic partnership to offer Skydio's world leading autonomous drones to law enforcement and emergency responders via Axon's unmanned aircraft program, Axon Air. As a Skydio Elite Partner, Axon will be the exclusive reseller and digital evidence management partner of Skydio's products to public safety globally. In addition, the two companies are working on a joint product roadmap that, in the coming months, will lead to the seamless integration between Skydio drones and Axon Air, Axon Evidence, and Axon Respond.

The partnership between Axon and Skydio brings a paradigm shift in how public safety agencies can leverage small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) for real-time situational awareness and evidence management. Skydio drone-captured imagery will be easily manageable and shareable for agencies, and live alongside corresponding body camera video in Axon's digital evidence management platform, Axon Evidence. Through the integration with Axon's real-time operations platform, Respond for Devices, command staff and 911 dispatchers will be able to access live-streamed views from on-the-ground body cameras and drone footage, providing a more comprehensive picture of an incident. Additionally, Skydio's state-of-the-art flight autonomy engine and 3D adaptive scanning software, Skydio 3D Scan, will enhance public safety operations and efficiency by automating scans of crime and accident scenes to create accurate 3D reconstruction models.

"Over the last year, we've seen strong momentum of Skydio drones in public safety," said Mark Cranney, Skydio COO. "We are excited to partner with Axon, the leader in connected public safety technologies and a company that shares our commitment to the responsible use of technology to keep communities safe, to accelerate this trend globally. The integration of Axon's and Skydio's market-leading solutions will deliver unprecedented value and unlock the full potential of autonomous drones for live aerial intelligence and accurate evidence management."

"This partnership underscores Axon's commitment to ensuring that everyone gets home safe," said Axon Air General Manager, Aydin Ghajar. "Skydio's leading position in autonomous flight aligns with Axon's vision of enhancing response times and offering first responders a turnkey drone program that provides a safer, more effective method of gaining situational awareness and gathering evidence."

Starting today, Skydio drones are available for sale by Axon through this partnership, including the Skydio 2 and Skydio X2, with Axon Evidence and Respond for Devices integration launching later this year. Additionally, Skydio will offer Axon Air, Axon Evidence and Axon Respond to its customers. Skydio designs, assembles and supports its products in the United States. Skydio X2 has been selected as a trusted drone platform for the Department of Defense and the Federal Government as part of the Defense Innovation Unit's Blue sUAS Program. Skydio X2 also satisfies the rigorous supply chain security requirements in the National Defense Authorization Act.

About Skydio
Skydio is the leading U.S. drone manufacturer and world leader in autonomous flight. Skydio leverages breakthrough AI to create the world's most intelligent flying machines for use by consumer, enterprise, and government customers. Founded in 2014, Skydio is made up of leading experts in AI, robotics, cameras, and electric vehicles from top companies, research labs, and universities from around the world. Skydio designs, assembles, and supports its products in the U.S. from its headquarters in Redwood City, CA, to offer the highest standards of supply chain and manufacturing security. Skydio is trusted by leading enterprises across a wide range of industry sectors and is backed by top investors and strategic partners including Andreessen Horowitz, Levitate Capital, Next47, IVP, Playground, and NVIDIA.

About Axon
Axon is a network of devices, apps and people that helps public safety personnel become smarter and safer. With a mission of protecting life, our technologies give customers the confidence, focus and time they need to keep their communities safe. Our products impact every aspect of a public safety officer's day-to-day experience with the goal of helping everyone get home safe.

We work hard for those who put themselves in harm's way for all of us. To date, more than 246,000 lives and countless dollars have been saved with the Axon network of devices, apps and people. Learn more at www.axon.com or by calling (800) 978-2737. Axon is a global company with headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz. and global software engineering hub in Seattle, Wash., as well as additional offices in Australia, Canada, Finland, Vietnam, the UK and the Netherlands.

Facebook is a trademark of Facebook, Inc., Skydio and Skydio 2 are trademarks of Skydio, Inc., and Twitter is a trademark of Twitter, Inc.

Axon, Axon Air, Axon Respond, Axon Evidence and the Delta Logo are trademarks of Axon Enterprise, Inc., some of which are registered in the US and other countries. For more information, visit www.axon.com/legal. All rights reserved.

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