Skydio

Skydio is an American drone maker founded in 2014 by Adam Bry, Abe Bachrach and Matt Donahoe, three MIT-educated engineers who had worked together on autonomous flight research, and headquartered in San Mateo, California. The company built its name on obstacle-avoidance autonomy software that lets its aircraft fly complex missions without a skilled remote pilot, and in August 2023 it exited the consumer drone market entirely to focus on military, public-safety and industrial customers.

Skydio's product line runs from the dock-based X10 modular quadcopter, introduced in 2023 for defence and enterprise inspection work, through to dedicated public-safety aircraft. The R10 is a compact, prop-guarded indoor quadcopter for confined-space reconnaissance, and the F10 Lightrunner, announced in September 2026, is the company's first fixed-wing aircraft, launched and recovered autonomously from a dock using a robotic suction-gripper system. Military variants of Skydio's airframes, including the X2D and the US Army's RQ-28A, have been supplied to the US Department of Defense and reported allied users such as the UK Ministry of Defence and Ukraine.

Skydio has raised more than $500 million from investors, crossing a $1 billion valuation in March 2021, and its aircraft are built and assembled in the United States. China sanctioned the company in October 2024 and added it to an export-control list in March 2025, after Taiwanese fire departments approved Skydio products for use.