DroneDeploy Acquires Structionsite, Promises Integrated Reality Capture

Combined firm will offer both ground and aerial site documentation

Aerial-focused DroneDeploy is acquiring its more grounded competitor in the reality capture sector, StructionSite.

Image Courtesy of DroneDeploy

In the latest major consolidation move in the busy construction technology sector, DroneDeploy, a cloud platform that allows contractors and other customers to manage the data generated by their drones and other reality-capture tools, announced Oct. 12 that it will acquire StructionSite, a major provider of ground-based reality capture.

The acquisition will unify two market-leading firms in the world of construction reality capture. DroneDeploy has customers in 190 countries that have captured more than 300 million acres and 1.7 million sites mapped to date from a total of 7.9 million drones, small planes and other types of aerial vehicles. Since StructionSite launched in 2016, its customers have used its handheld and hardhat-mounted reality capture technology to capture imagery of over $190 billion worth of construction projects by more than 500 contractors.

Both firms also offer software tools to organize and browse the reality capture imagery generated by drones and other devices, pairing it to design plans and other construction documents. The rapid growth of the reality capture market over the last decade has provided contractors and other project stakeholders with more up-to-date documentation of their jobsites.

DroneDeploy said in a statement it is making the acquisition to allow its customers in construction, energy and other industries to deploy aerial drones, ground-based robots and handheld 360° cameras to document their work sites. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close by the end of October.

"Companies across industries have been asking for a unified view of their sites: a single platform to document, inspect and measure the exterior and interior of their assets and infrastructure,” said Mike Winn, CEO and co-founder of DroneDeploy in a statement.

StructionSite said it looks forward to bringing its robotic and other ground-based reality capture services to DroneDeploy's platform.

"Together, we can accelerate StructionSite’s product roadmap through an integrated platform that will enable some of the world’s largest construction companies to deploy autonomous aerial and ground robots to deliver efficiency and cost savings at scale,” said Matt Daly, CEO and co-founder of StructionSite, in a statement.

ENR Midwest Editor and Associate Technology Editor Jeff Yoders has been writing about design and construction innovations for 16 years. He is a two-time Jesse H. Neal award winner and multiple ASBPE winner for his tech coverage. Jeff previously launched Building Design + Construction's building information modeling blog and wrote a geographic information systems column at CE News. He also wrote about materials prices, construction procurement and estimation for MetalMiner.com. He lives in Chicago, the birthplace of the skyscraper, where the pace of innovation never leaves him without a story to chase.

Post a comment to this article

The Groundbreaking Women in Construction (GWIC) conference is a leading event focusing on empowering women in the construction industry through discussions on leadership, diversity, and career development.

The annual conference features a wide array of topics, including infrastructure law, sustainability, and strategies to overcome industry challenges.

Coinciding with the release of the new 2024 Top 400 Contractors list, this annual webinar dives into the results of the Top 400 survey. We'll bring together a panel of executives from the largest contracting firms to discuss the industry’s pressing issues, from workforce challenges to data security.