she1K makes first investment in Singapore drone startup, Performance Rotors
she1K invested alongside other institutional and angel investors in Performance Rotors for this round.
she1K, the world’s first global corporate executive women network which champions, funds and boards startups, has made its first investment in Performance Rotors Pte Ltd, by syndicating angel investments from its members.
Why was Performance Rotors selected?
Performance Rotors is a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) solutions company with a core focus on confined spaces inspection. The Singapore-born startup was selected during the first she1K private pitch to its members and co-investing partners. These sessions are by invitation only. Held every 2 months, both in-person in Singapore and Hong Kong and via zoom calls globally, around 10 startups are selected to pitch to she1K members, angel investors and VCs. 2 or 3 will be shortlisted for deeper dives and an investment decision is taken after 2 months by syndicating investments from members and co-investing partners.
Says Christina Teo, Chief Builder of she1K: “Performance Rotors was chosen because they have a highly qualified team, acquired some significant reputable customers and are already revenue generating. Furthermore, they were recently accelerated at PortXL, the world’s first maritime tech accelerator, which opened doors to large maritime, oil and gas and plantation conglomerates – which can use their drones to conduct inspections in confined spaces. By using Performance Rotors’ drones, companies can save millions in costs, reduce manpower, and completely eliminate significant human hazards in toxic and flammable confined spaces.”
Confined space inspections yields massive market potential
As confined space are common across all heavy industries, the market potential for unmanned vehicle solutions is sizeable. According to PWC global report, commercial applications of drone technology promises a potential market size value of $127 billion.
Performance Rotors have already made inroads into oil & gas and brewery storage tanks and will be moving into mining, agriculture, aerospace, underground tunnels further down the road. Their solutions are customisable to cater to diverse challenges.
Says Keith Ng, CEO and Co-Founder of Performance Rotors: “We are confident of the value that the she1K corporate executive network brings to our company. It goes beyond funding. As a true homegrown startup, our technology is completely developed in Singapore. Raven is the smallest smart inspection drone which can operate in non-GPS assisted and dark environment. With Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement and AI (artificial intelligence) analysis platform integrated, we provide proactive and more effective detection of surface structural defects.”
Performance Rotors has a strong go-to-market advantage by partnering with certification agencies and inspection companies such as Bureau Veritas.
she1K supports with “skin in the game”
she1K was created to encourage more successful corporate women executives to embark on angel investing. By angel investing, corporate women stand to gain from keeping abreast the latest innovations beyond the industries they have built their careers around and potentially diversify their wealth portfolio. More importantly, female corporate leaders have a lot to offer in terms of industry insights and business connections but may not have access to structured program and trusted networks until now with she1K.
“It is important that we send the right message to the market that our network supports great innovation and businesses that can scale. Whilst we are leveraging women executives for their prowess, we do not believe gender should be a bias in the evaluation of a startup.”, reinforced by Christina Teo
For further enquiries
Email VIP@she1K.com
Additional references
1. Work health safety in confined space
https://www.wshc.sg/files/wshc/upload/cms/file/2014/cs2.pdf
2.The case for drone commercial applications market
https://www.pwc.pl/pl/pdf/clarity-from-above-pwc.pdf
About she1K
she1K aims at rallying 1000 corporate women to pool together funds to invest in startups that are industry and gender agnostic, globally. Founded in November 2018, the network also extends to angels – male or female – and co-investing partners such as early stage funds. www.she1K.com
About Performance Rotors (PR)
Founded in 2016, Singapore-based Performance Rotors is founded by Keith Ng, Mark Toh and Mervin Hoon and has a team of 12 employees. They started with building façade inspections for high density areas, and is now building a major pipeline in the maritime space – with a core focus on confined space inspections. PR has created the smallest smart non-GPS assisted drone. Developed in Singapore, this inspection drone is the first of its size with ultrasonic thickness measurement (UTM) for interiors.. www.performance-rotors.com
About PortXL
PortXL is the World’s 1st Port & Maritime Accelerator. The unique three-month program fosters synergies between cutting-edge maritime startups and leading corporates around the world. PortXL focuses on four key maritime sectors of ports, shipping & logistics, energy, and refinery, driving innovation for the global maritime industry.
With deep roots in Rotterdam, one of the most robust port industries in the world, PortXL launched the inaugural Singapore program in 2018 with 7 startups in the founding cohort, backed by Enterprise Singapore. Over the last 5 years, PortXL has accelerated 41 startups and facilitated over 80 pilots. www.portxl.org
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