Voliro, a Swiss pioneer in aerial robotics – or drones, as some would call them, announced an extension of its Series A round, bringing the total raised to $23 million.
Voliro’s Series A extension saw new participation from noa venture capital and the addition of a debt facility from UBS.
The original round was led by Cherry Ventures. This additional capital will accelerate the development and global deployment of Voliro’s “autonomous aerial inspection robots” – designed to modernize infrastructure maintenance, enhance industrial safety, and address growing workforce shortages.
Built on a patented tiltable-rotor design and equipped with interchangeable sensor payloads, the Voliro T platform represents a new standard in intelligent, contact-based inspection.
As the world faces mounting challenges from aging infrastructure and environmental pressures, Voliro’s technology offers a scalable, data-driven solution for safer, more sustainable operations.
This breakthrough, born in Europe, exemplifies how homegrown innovation can drive global technological advancement.
As industrial assets age, failures in critical, hard-to-access structures like flare stacks, storage tanks, chimneys, and towers are becoming more frequent, risky, and costly.
Investigations into major accidents over the past decade repeatedly cite corrosion, wall thinning, or undetected fatigue as root causes – issues that are frequently overlooked because traditional inspections are costly, infrequent, and largely reactive.
These failures are not anomalies. Studies show that up to 30 percent of major industrial accidents in Europe involve aging infrastructure and integrity issues. Globally, corrosion-related failures are estimated to cost the economy $2.5 trillion annually.
Traditional inspection methods rely on scaffolding, rope access, and shutdowns – approaches that introduce significant risk, delay critical diagnostics, and limit how often inspections can be performed.
At the same time, in the US, nearly two-thirds of certified NDT (non-destructive testing) professionals are over 40, reflecting a broader trend seen across OECD countries, where a wave of retirements is accelerating due to aging populations.
As experienced inspectors exit the workforce, industries face an urgent need for smarter technology and tools that reduce reliance on manual access while attracting a new generation of digital-native technicians.
Voliro addresses this dual challenge with a new class of aerial robots designed to inspect hard-to-reach infrastructure safely and efficiently.
From flare stacks and storage tanks to wind turbine blades and transmission towers, the Voliro T platform empowers asset owners across the energy, chemicals, and renewables sectors to detect issues early with proactive maintenance and reduce downtime.
In the fast-growing wind industry, where uptime is crucial, Voliro enables 5x faster wind turbine lightning protection system (LPS) inspections with instant insights – cutting downtime and reducing inspection costs by up to 50 percent, all without manual access.
Since its founding, Voliro has established a strong global footprint with 40+ customers in 17 countries, including Chevron, Holcim, and Acuren.
Performing 100+ contact inspections monthly, Voliro is the recognized leader in aerial contact inspection, with proven success across complex industrial environments.
By transforming how inspections are conducted, Voliro is not only strengthening resilience in infrastructure maintenance but also helping to modernize the profession itself—making it appealing to a new generation of skilled technicians.
As Europe’s largest venture capital firm dedicated to innovation in the built world, noa backs technologies that align with its core themes of sustainability, industrial resilience, and workforce transformation.
