US drone system specialists appoint new CEO

Technology industry leader with deep analytics background takes the helm at Kespry

CALIFORNIA-based aerial intelligence platform providers Kespry have appointed George Mathew, a technology industry leader with a deep analytics background, as the company’s new chief executive officer and chairman.

Mr Mathew, who was most recently president and chief operating officer of self-service analytics software providers Alteryx, has 20 years’ experience at growth-oriented technology start-ups as well as category leading software providers such as salesforce.com and SAP.

He has held a wide range of senior leadership positions, from driving company strategy to leading product management, development, sales and marketing teams.

‘The founding team at Kespry has done a remarkable job,’ said John Vrionis, general partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners and a member of the Kespry board of directors.

‘We now have the opportunity to accelerate our growth tremendously, and George has a proven track record and a true knack for building high-growth, sustainable businesses at a global scale.

‘For the past several years, he has lived at the intersection of analytics, big data and cloud computing, all of which are critical to where the industrial drone market is going as the use of drones and the data they provide spreads globally.’

Commenting on his new role, Mr Mathew said: ‘Kespry have quickly and methodically carved out a compelling and highly differentiated position in the industrial drone space.

‘By developing a highly integrated end-to-end solution that provides customers with unique aerial insights and analytical models, they are allowing markets such as aggregates and construction to imagine new uses that were not previously possible.’

A May 2016 PwC report projects the global commercial drone market to grow to more than US$127 billion by 2020.

Kespry say they have already experienced rapid customer growth across key vertical markets, with three of the top five construction materials firms and the top five aggregates firms in North America now using their system.

Kespry provide an automated and fully integrated drone system that is easy for companies to deploy at scale. Companies use the drones to more easily collect, analyse and share aerial information via a unique cloud-based service.

The Kespry system is said to save time and money while increasing traditional survey frequency, helping to change the way customers operate their businesses. Current Kespry customers average more than nine flights per month, compared to traditional quarterly or annual surveying methods.