Hextronics

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RILEY KAMINER

26 JANUARY 2024

26 JAN 2024

YOUR DRONE IN A BOX? LOOK NO FURTHER THAN HEXTRONICS

"Sometimes, you have to go somewhere that’s just plain inconvenient. And no, we don’t mean attempting to drive more than a few miles in South Florida on a Friday afternoon. More like you’re trying to survey dozens of miles of pipelines or railroads in a remote area – or assessing a crime scene before any first responders arrive.

For that, there are drones. In many ways, it’s the perfect solution: simply tell your robotic aviators exactly where to go and what to do. After a few hours of whizzing around, they’ll feed you exactly the info you need, just how you need it.

That’s the theory, at least. The practice? Well, it’s a lot more difficult. Why? Drones need to get to point A in the first place. You need the right drone and the right hardware for the task at hand. And that’s before liftoff.

Curt Lary understands this reality firsthand. He originally founded Miami-based HEXTRONICS To solve one of the most vexing problems in the space: charging. The company gained traction thanks to its proprietary drone battery charging and launching station, which it calls a ‘nest.’

Now, Hextronics has broadened its offerings to include end-to-end “drone-in-a-box” solutions that encompass hardware, software, and battery swapping.

The company was very much in its early days when Refresh Miami first spoke to Lary, in October 2021. Since then, Hextronics has enabled more than 100,000 flights in 25 countries across six continents (so much international shipping landed Hextronics on DHL’s VIP list, Lary reports). According to Lary, that represents a 10x growth between the last article and 2024 figures. The team has also grown fivefold, to about 25 employees.

And this seems to just be the beginning. “We’re overflowing with inbound requests,” Lary, Hextronics’ CEO, told Refresh Miami of the word-of-mouth strategy that has led them to this point. He attributes part of this success to the price point, which is more accessible than competitors.

Equally though, Lary takes pride in the scrappy reputation the company has built: “People know us as a group of kids in a small garage, and a lot of people believe that this mindset enables rapid growth, quick problem solving, and continuous improvement.”

“Anywhere you need to fly a drone on a recurring basis, we’re there,” said Lary. Until recently, that “anywhere” was primarily outside the US due to the widespread restrictions on autonomous drones. That changed last year though, when the FAA OPENED a pathway for flying drones beyond visual line of sight.

“Now operators of our nests can fly the drone completely remotely without needing anybody on site, or any kind of radar or vision-based equipment to sense other vehicles in the airspace,” Lary continued. “That’s a massive unblock for this entire industry. And we are tremendously excited to see our partners take advantage of it.”

Lary, a Miami native, is proud of our city’s growth as a startup hub: “We’d love to see even more growth and see how we can support the movement, particularly when it comes to hard tech.”"

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