Image provided by xCraft

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

For a greater part of the last century and the beginning of this era, drones had been synonymous with the military — they have been an integral part of warfare and still are even today. But lately, they have gained enormous popularity among civilians.

The huge civilian appetite for drones has caused an explosion of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market. Demand has soared partly thanks to the adoption of these devices for photography, video production, and private surveillance.

As drones become more technologically advanced, their sizes are shrinking. They are now often easily accessible and used for various purposes. These midsize planes that hover in the skies like birds or bugs looking for their next meal now play a role in public safety, agriculture, mapping and surveying, and open-pit mining applications.

Drones have also provided benefits to the human race. They have enhanced the quick delivery of life-saving medications, searches for lost persons, and fights against wildfires.

A Problem With Drones on the Market?

Currently, there are a number of players in the drone industry, with GoPro Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRO), AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV), and AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN: UAVS) being among some of the largest.

But considering the vast market potential for UAVs, Idaho-based xCraft Enterprises Inc. believes the drone market lacks innovation and improvement. The company is of the view that, before it entered the industry, there was a gap in the market for well-built drones that could fly extremely fast and far while communicating with their counterparts.

With this in mind, the company says it quickly got to work to solve these challenges by building faster, more efficient drones made with unique patented technology to take the drone industry to new heights, improving safety, health, and quality of life for people all over the world.

Among the line of drones xCraft has designed is the Panadrone.

America’s Drone Company

xCraft has been designing and manufacturing customized unmanned aerial systems for enterprise and military markets. The company has developed technologies that power the future of autonomous flight.

With a launch on ABC’s ”Shark Tank,” xCraft became “America’s Drone Company,” creating an arsenal of innovative, patented drone systems that it believes have forever changed the unmanned aerial vehicle landscape.

The company is launching its products into a marketplace with demand for solutions — technology built to solve the world’s toughest challenges. xCraft says it has partnered with companies in defense, energy, security, public safety, and other industries to develop tailored applications that solve real-world problems.

In 2014 the company developed X PlusOne, a fast hybrid drone that incorporates 2 key features — vertical takeoff and landing and reportedly fast, efficient forward flight. It is a quadcopter combined with a flying wing. The quadcopter gives the user the ability of precision vertical takeoff, landing, and hover, and a flying wing provides the capability for efficient forward flight.

What xCraft believes makes its drones better than what is on the market is that it uses aerodynamics to support the craft's weight, which gives users greater efficiency.

Passion Combined With Inspiration and a Drive To Succeed

A passion for flight and innovation has always been a driver, says the company’s co-founder and CEO JD Claridge. From an early age, he was building homemade hang gliders from bed sheets and scrap tubing. 

In 2005, he constructed a fully functional fixed-wing drone out of hobby parts and used it for filming real estate in his town — something very novel for that time.

That passion is what drove him to build xCraft into what it is today — a company that develops powerful flying robots to help improve the world.

Vision for the Future — Flying Cars

After conquering the UAV landscape, Claridge says he is pioneering a new wave of flying mobility — flying cars.

But these prototypes are currently not ready for mass production and adoption just yet. xCraft’s vision of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is making sure the exciting space that people have dreamed about for decades is a reality soon.

Producing a commercially ready flying car was part of Claridge’s original vision to see the company’s technology used to help move people and things efficiently and autonomously through the vast open airspace.

The company has developed the flying car concepts through a vehicle and logistical system design. xCraft states that these concepts have already been discussed with the company’s intellectual property (IP) attorneys, and patent applications have been initiated although not yet submitted.

xCraft believes it has laid a strong foundation to make flying cars envisioned for the future a reality today and believes its current drones, technology, and vision could be something that investors are looking for.