A Scottish aerial-inspection company announced a £1.25million cash injection yesterday to help create more jobs and drive global expansion.
Cyberhawk Innovations revealed the new round of investment led by Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) with the Scottish Investment Bank (SIB); the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise.
SEP and SIB are already investors in the business, which employs 16 people and gets the majority of its turnover from the oil and gas industry.
Livingston-based Cyberhawk said it was active from the North Sea to the South China Sea, and also carried out onshore inspections from the UK to Oman. It said one of the main focuses of the fresh investment would be to allow expansion of its offshore services in the North Sea, where it has established a reputation for inspecting oil installations using its remotely operated aerial vehicle (ROAV) technology.
Cyberhawk said that, over five years, it had established a leading industrial service that used flying robots to conduct close visual and thermal inspections of industrial assets such as flares, utility transmission towers and wind turbines. The company can also deliver aerial land-surveying services for the oil and gas, utilities and renewable-energy sectors.
It said the innovative business initially attracted investment from utility giant SSE and now the UK’s leading venture-capital and growth-equity investor, SEP.
Customers include SSE, Shell, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Total, Centrica and Statoil.
Cyberhawk said that, unlike traditional inspection methods using rope access or helicopters, its approach meant high-value energy infrastructure could be kept operational during inspection; a vital consideration at industrial sites where asset downtime can cost millions of pounds a day. Chief executive Craig Roberts, from Inverurie, said: “The new round of investment will enable Cyberhawk to invest in the people, technology and product development required to consolidate our leading position in the market and drive global growth. We anticipate that we will double our headcount in the next year and see further growth in subsequent years.”
Tony Robison, principal at SEP, said the new investment had come on the back of Cyberhawk establishing a growing demand for its inspection services and an impressive list of blue-chip customers.
He added: “The management team has a strong track record, a growing pipeline of opportunities and has built a trusted brand. It is operating in an exciting global market and SEP is pleased to be able to support the company’s growth plans.”
SIB head Kerry Sharp said: “Cyberhawk perfectly illustrates Scotland’s reputation for engineering excellence and inventiveness and shows how these strengths can create jobs and export opportunities. Cyberhawk is creating a new global market for the commercial use of ROAVs in the energy industry, in which Scotland can become world leader.”
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