On May 5, AeroCloud Systems announced seed investment of $1.7m (£1.2m), led by VC fund Playfair Capital.
AeroCloud is a cloud-based airport management solution. It provides real-time data to enable management of critical operations.
Its predictive AI, resource management and planning system identifies future passenger flow with 97 percent accuracy to ensure maximum visibility of operational demand and optimized communication with airlines, ground operations, and tenants.
The platform is cloud-based, easy to use, and built on leading edge technology keeping the price point within the reach of small to medium sized airports. It also provides larger airports with an alternative at a much lower cost to existing solutions, essential at a time when the industry needs additional support to recuperate from the effects of the pandemic.
The business, based in the US and UK, has deployed their platform in major airports such as Tampa International and John Wayne in California. This investment will drive further growth in North America and enable key hires. One such hire is new Director of Airport Engagement and industry veteran Andrew Hoppe, who joins from competitor ADB Safegate. Andrew has been working with airports, airlines, and the transportation sector in technology sales roles since 2014.
CEO George Richardson and CTO Ian Forde-Smith launched AeroCloud in 2017 to address a gap in the legacy airport operations market. They felt previous solutions were too expensive, not focussed on customer needs, and not innovating fast enough.
On the raise, Richardson said: “Myself and my co-founder, Ian Forde-Smith, always felt the airport operations sector was an underserved market that we could have a huge impact on. And we’ve shown that a combination of genuinely innovative technology and great service is really resonating with the airports we speak to.
“The pandemic has given us an opportunity to show airport executives how our platform can optimise their operations and save them costs when they’ve needed to most. As vaccination programmes ramp up around the world, air travel is set to make a big comeback in the US and then Europe, our two key markets. We’re incredibly excited about the opportunity this presents us to rapidly accelerate the growth of our business.”
On the hiring of Andrew Hoppe, Richardson added: “Andrew deciding to join us is a testament to the buzz we’re creating in the industry as a customer-focussed business solving challenges with leading edge technology.”
Hoppe commented: “I've joined after witnessing AeroCloud deploy AI-driven gate management systems at airports overnight, and in the process save 80% on IT and maintenance costs.
Since coming onboard, I've been able to see for myself that they are unequivocally the most innovative and customer-centric software company in the aviation space.”
