As a venture capital group with an appetite to invest in start-ups in the drone and air mobility sectors, Levitate Capital did not give much credence to available market research and so in mid-2020 it set about conducting its own investigation. The result of this effort is a new white paper published on December 21: The Future of the Drone Economy: a comprehensive analysis of the economic potential, market opportunities, and strategic considerations in the drone economy.
Drones (aka unmanned aerial vehicles) constitute the substantial part of the 150-page report. However, the Levitate team have also factored into the mix passenger-carrying eVTOL aircraft that, it is assumed, will begin operations with pilots on board (the Passenger section of the document runs to 11 pages). They also address in some detail technical challenges such as autonomous operations and the limitations of electric powerplants.
The headline takeaways cover the scale of the market, with an over-arching prediction that the “global drone economy” will grow from a current value of $15 billion to $90 billion by 2030, representing a six-fold increase in just nine years. Through 2024, the largest segment will be defense (worth $17 billion by 2030), but this will be overtaken by what the California-based company defines as “enterprise” in the second half of the 2020s (to reach $29 billion). By enterprise, Levitate’s researchers mean applications in the following areas: construction, building inspection, agriculture, commercial counter-drone services, oil and gas, real estate, utilities, mining, and professional videography.
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