Macclesfield’s AeroCloud, the intelligent airport management platform, has raised $12.6m in Series A funding led by US fund Stage 2 Capital.
I2BF Global Ventures, Triple Point Ventures and Praetura Ventures also joined in the round along with existing investors Playfair Capital. The Praetura and Haatch commitments to the round were supported with additional investment through the Regional Angel Programme by the British Business Investments. AeroCloud has now raised $16m in total.
The new Series A funding will enable AeroCloud to scale up, with plans to double the team of 40 by the end of the year across its HQ in Macclesfield, as well as its offices in London and Florida. This will help it to reach its target of over 100 customers in 2023, which will require growing its presence in North America and Europe, as well as delivering new product launches based on machine learning, AI and self-service.
Aerocloud was founded by former professional racing driver George Richardson (CEO) and airport operations innovator Ian Forde-Smith (CTO). It uses technology to solve the complex challenges airports face daily. Its software is currently in use in 42 airports globally, including Manchester and Tampa, Florida.
Richardson said: “The airport industry has had a difficult few years, which has only increased the need for a scalable, intelligent platform like AeroCloud. Before we launched AeroCloud, airports were forced to use legacy technology that was difficult to scale and barely fit for purpose. Now, it takes only 24 hours for an airport to onboard onto our platform and within two weeks, it’s already driving efficiency and operation gains. AeroCloud’s technology is so easy to use that it supports millions of operational decisions a day and doesn’t require anyone to be on-site.”
He added: “Raising capital in this market has been tough but I am delighted with the results owing to our strong growth and impressive team. It’s been an incredible few years building this business in the North West and I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds which I am sure will be very exciting for airports globally and our investors.”
