Competing with DJI and strategic choices

Skydio announces $110M Series F at a $4.4B post-money valuation. CEO Adam Bry joins Sourcery to share Skydio’s funding process, commercial progress, & manufacturing edge at Skydio's Hayward factory. Skydio is the largest drone factory in the US at scale production.

"The most significant fact in our Series F is how little we are raising. Despite investor demand to put substantially more into the company… our capital needs are rapidly decreasing." – Adam Bry

In this conversation:

• $50M, 3,000 drone US Army contract and tripling production in 2026

• R10 indoor drone and F10 fixed wing

• Turning down DJI's acquisition offer in 2014

• Getting sanctioned by the Chinese government in 2024

• Drone as First Responder: Public Safety customers in 42/50 states, 42% auto theft reduction in SF

• Built a China independent supply chain & US manufacturing at scale

• Flying agentic AI & the future of autonomous robotics

• Adam's hottest take on the robotics hype cycle

If you're interested in reindustrializing America, drones, AI, robotics, and fundraising in hard tech, this one's for you.

Adam Bry: https://x.com/adampbry

Molly O’Shea: https://x.com/MollySOShea 

Sourcery: ⁠https://x.com/sourceryy 

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(00:00) Adam Bry, CEO of Skydio

(00:54) Inside Skydio Factory

(01:31) Series F & Scaling

(03:17) Customers And Growth

(04:10) Origins & Reliability

(08:04) Civilian Missions Focus

(09:19) Drones For Public Safety

(12:29) Edge Compute & Partners

(14:20) Expanding Drone Lineup

(17:10) Beating China & DJI

(19:34) US Supply Chain Resilience

(21:33) Reindustrialization Timeline

(22:35) Hiring & Leadership

(27:12) AI Agentic Drones

(30:08) Metrics & Operating Model

(31:49) Hottest Take And Advice