Anna Forrester
Investment banking firm Nexa Capital Partners has started a fund that intends to raise $2.2 billion from the aerospace industry to support development of new drone applications, the Washington Business Journal reported Monday.
Jill Aitoro writes that the “UAS America Fund” aims to secure financial backing from defense companies to help boost technologies for integration into their unmanned systems as well as become future acquisition targets.
“We’ve been watching the drone and unmanned system space for a couple of years now, trying to find the right time when it generates momentum. We think the time is here,” Jim Hughey, a Nexa senior vice president, told the Business Journal.
Aitoro notes that the fund is aimed at supporting the technology infrastructure that supports the unmanned systems, but the current Federal Aviation Administration budget does not include funding for such infrastructure.
The UAS America Fund has already received funding from state governments, among other investors, but the report said Nexa expects to gain more investments in the coming year as defense companies receive more business.
“When these new projects get rolled out, it’s going to be their command and control technologies that will make up the infrastructure,” Hughey said.
“At the same time, they all have these capabilities and they’re looking for areas to commercialize.”
