SkySafe

FliteGrid is built by SkySafe, an airspace intelligence company that has been developing drone detection and tracking technology since 2015.

Company Background

SkySafe was founded in San Diego, California in 2015 with a focus on solving the emerging challenge of drone detection, tracking, and identification. The company has raised just under $50M from investors including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Founder Collective, SVAngel, and others.

Over the past decade, SkySafe has built what is now the most comprehensive drone airspace intelligence platform in the industry: a full-stack system that detects drones using multiple sensor types, processes and analyzes flight data in real time, and distributes that intelligence to the customers who need it.

As of 2025, SkySafe's network has tracked over 1 million flights.

What SkySafe Has Built

The technology powering FliteGrid wasn't built for FliteGrid. It was built over nearly a decade of real-world deployment and iteration for demanding customers.

Receiver software for all Remote ID protocols. When the FAA finalized the Remote ID rule, SkySafe was one of the few companies that could actually receive all protocol variants. Remote ID has multiple broadcast standards (Bluetooth 4, Bluetooth 5, Wi-Fi Beacon, Wi-Fi NAN), and most implementations only support a subset. SkySafe's software handles all of them. When Remote ID requirements launched, SkySafe conducted one of the few independent analyses of drone manufacturer compliance and found that most manufacturers had not actually implemented the standard correctly. SkySafe knows this technology deeply because they've been building it for years and they’re the worldwide experts.

A production cloud platform. SkySafe operates a large-scale cloud platform for ingesting, processing, analyzing, and distributing drone tracking data. This is the same platform that FliteGrid sensor data feeds into. It handles real-time visualization, historical flight records, alerting, and data distribution to enterprise customers. It's not a prototype. It's production infrastructure that serves paying customers today.

Enterprise-grade security and validation. The platform includes the verification, encryption, and data integrity systems that government and enterprise customers require. This infrastructure directly supports FliteGrid's proof-of-location and trusted hardware frameworks.

Customers & Partnerships

SkySafe's technology is deployed in countries around the world, serving airports, government agencies, military organizations, critical infrastructure operators, universities, and event venues. Below are some publicly announced customers and partnerships that give an idea of the quality and scope of SkySafe’s operations.

Customers

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) / Customs and Border Protection (CBP): SkySafe was awarded a contract to deploy its cloud-based drone detection system along a portion of the US southern border. The system provides CBP agents with real-time alerts and situational awareness to help curb the flow of illicit goods into the United States. (link)

Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (RIEMA): RIEMA awarded SkySafe a three-year contract to monitor airspace across the state's airports, correctional facilities, and other high-risk sites. In its first year of operation, the system logged more than 30,000 drone flights within a five-kilometer radius, data that helped RIEMA secure additional funding and expand coverage statewide. (link)

FAA: The FAA selected SkySafe to participate in its UAS Detection and Mitigation Testing and Evaluation Program, which identifies technologies for detecting and mitigating unauthorized drone activity near airports and critical infrastructure. SkySafe's technology was deployed at Atlantic City International Airport. (link)

Allied Militaries: SkySafe has been selected as the preferred vendor for counter-drone technology by a major U.S. military ally in Asia across six consecutive multi-million dollar contract wins. SkySafe has been testing and deploying counter-drone capabilities to domestic and foreign military customers since 2015. (link)

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: The University of Illinois awarded SkySafe a two-year renewal to provide drone detection across campus and during major Big Ten sporting events. In one year of operation, the system provided visibility into over 7,500 drone flights. During a football game with 60,000 spectators, SkySafe detected an unauthorized flight that led to the arrest and prosecution of the drone operator. (link)

University of Louisiana Monroe: ULM became the first university in Louisiana to deploy drone detection, selecting SkySafe to protect students, faculty, and visitors during football games, graduation ceremonies, and other campus events. (link)

Farmers Insurance Open (PGA Tour): SkySafe has provided drone security for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course for three consecutive years, protecting players, spectators, and sponsors while managing authorized broadcast drones for NBC Golf Channel and CBS. During one tournament week, the system detected 12 unauthorized drones above the course. (link)

Partnerships

Motorola Solutions: SkySafe's drone detection is integrated into Motorola Solutions' command center software, giving 911 and command center operators access to real-time drone intelligence alongside their existing incident management tools. The integration enables automated alerting and cross-referencing of drone activity with other incident data. (link)

Fortem Technologies: SkySafe and Fortem Technologies offer a fully integrated drone detection and mitigation solution that combines SkySafe's passive RF detection with Fortem's radar-based tracking and kinetic mitigation capabilities, creating a multi-layered airspace security system. (link)

Safeware: Safeware added SkySafe's drone intelligence platform to its portfolio of safety and security products, making SkySafe available to Safeware's network of government, federal, first responder, and industrial customers through national cooperative contracts. (link)

More information on SkySafe's partnerships and press coverage is available on the SkySafe Press page.

Industry Involvement

SkySafe isn't just building technology in isolation. The company has been actively involved in shaping the rules and standards that govern drone operations in the United States.

FAA Rulemaking Committee - SkySafe participated on the FAA's Aviation Rulemaking Committee for drone detection and mitigation, directly contributing to the federal policy framework that governs how drones are monitored and managed. (Final report)

Commercial Drone Alliance - SkySafe serves as a board member of the Commercial Drone Alliance, working with industry and government to advocate for responsible drone integration into the national airspace.

This level of involvement matters because FliteGrid isn't building against the regulatory current. The company that built it has been helping define the rules that create demand for this exact infrastructure.

Why This Matters for FliteGrid

For the DePIN community, SkySafe's background addresses the biggest risk factor in most new projects: whether the underlying business is real.

SkySafe has a decade of operating history, institutional funding from top-tier investors, paying enterprise and government customers, production technology, and direct involvement in federal rulemaking. FliteGrid takes that existing foundation and extends it through decentralized deployment, using the DePIN model to achieve nationwide coverage that a centralized approach cannot.

The technology works. The customers are paying. The regulations are in place. FliteGrid is the scaling mechanism.