Driven by passion, partnership, and innovation

For more than two decades, Draganfly has been a leader in the professional drone industry, supporting our clients with enterprise drone solutions, contract engineering services, custom software, professional UAV services, and more. Learn more about our legacy and the people who got us where we are today.

A 20+ year history of drone innovation

From public safety to pop culture, Draganfly has shaped not just the UAV industry, but the way people around the world work and live. Here are just some of our milestones since we were founded in 1998

Breaking ground with international firsts

Draganfly has a legacy of leading the professional drone industry. Here are a few of our most groundbreaking firsts
  • In 1999, we released the first commercialized quadrotor UAV.
  • In 2001, we released the first multi-rotor UAV with an integrated camera system.
  • In 2013, the Draganflyer X4-ES was credited as the world’s first sUAS to save a person’s life.
  • In 2016, Draganfly became the first company to have multiple UAV systems deemed Transport Canada Compliant.

Earning news coverage

Draganfly technology has appeared in Time Magazine’s “Rise of the Drones” issue, the New York Times feature article “How It Works: Gyroscopes That Don’t Spin Make It Easy to Hover,” and National Geographic’s article on UAVs used in emergency services.

Receiving awards and recognitions

Our drone software, tech, and team have been honored with:
  • International Academy of Science’s Top 10 Finalists for Technology of the Year for Draganfly Tango (2007)
  • Popular Science’s “Best of What’s New” Award in the Aviation & Space category for Draganflyer X6 (2008)
  • The Ernest C. Manning award nomination, Canada’s most prestigious innovation award, for found Zenon Dragan (2014)

Improving public safety

ENTERPRISE ᐧ PRODUCTION ᐧ RESEARCH
Draganfly has a long history of using drone technology to aid the police in keeping the public safe. In 2009, Ontario Provincial Police’s Forensic Identification Unit used the Draganflyer X6 to collect evidence in a homicide investigation, making this the first use of a commercial UAV for emergency services in North America . In 2013, the Draganflyer X6 was featured in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on “The Future of Drones in America: Law Enforcement and Privacy Considerations,” which laid the ground-work for police drone usage and policy. And in 2014, the Draganflyer X4-ES located missing hikers lost in a heavily wooded area outside Halifax, Nova Scotia, showing the world how this technology can be used to save lives in real-world applications.

Enhancing major museums

Draganfly drones are featured in numerous museums around the world, including the National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, and the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

Shaping pop culture

Draganfly drones have been featured on several television shows and movies, including “The Simpsons,” “Ripley’s Believe It or Not,” Disney’s “Inspector Gadget 2,” and A&E’s “Bigfoot Captured” TV special, which used the Draganflyer to collect aerial footage while searching for this curious creature.

An unmatched passion for UAV engineering

Draganfly is a business built by experts; our team comprises leaders in the industry who have decades of experience in robotics, aviation, and model building, as well as a genuine passion for building the world’s best flying machines.

Our team does great work because we care about our partners, but also because we just love what we do. We view UAV engineering as an art and a science; building industrial drones that change the world takes equal parts artisan craftsmanship and technical prowess. When we get to work every day, we challenge ourselves with one question: how can we make better, lighter, more reliable drones that improve the way we live?

A commitment and care for our partners

At Draganfly, we operate by a few guiding principles that put our partners at the center of everything we do. We don’t produce commercial drones in mass quantities; we design and manufacture professional drones for specific use cases. We don’t measure success by sales; we measure it by customer success. And we don’t sell our services if we can’t do the job well; we only make decisions and drones we can be proud of.

We work with our partners to understand their problems and workflows as well as they do so we can craft the perfect solution that fits into their existing operations. And we begin product and platform agnostic; this allows us to avoid prescriptive problem solving as we focus on building custom solutions tailored for the needs of the end user.

Learn why draganfly

Leadership
Cameron Chell

Cameron Chell

Chairman and CEO

Cameron has been a technology entrepreneur for more than 30 years and has spent his career growing a diverse collection of high-potential ideas into revolutionary companies that have changed…

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Patrick Imbasciani

Patrick Imbasciani

Chief Operating Officer

Patrick has more than 20 years of experience building relationships in domestic and international technology markets and serving his country as a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps…

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Paul Sun

Paul Sun

Chief Financial Officer

Paul has more than 20 years of experience in senior roles at investment banks including Scotia Capital, Desjardins, and Beacon Securities. Paul has provided financial solutions to small startups…

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Lana Moldenhauer

Lana Moldenhauer

General Manager

Lana is responsible for managing staff and overseeing the daily operations of the business. Like everyone at Draganfly, she wears many hats, managing: all HR…

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Zenon Dragan

Zenon Dragan

Founder

Zenon merges his lifelong passion for flying machines with his entrepreneurial spirit as founder of Draganfly. He launched Draganfly in 1998 and supervised the development of the Draganflyer…

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Cory Baker

Cory Baker

Production Manager

Cory has 27 years of experience as a UAV operator, 17 years of experience as a UAV instructor, and is a Transport Canada approved UAV instructor…

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Tim Lee

Tim Lee

Vice President of Engineering

Tim Lee is an electronics engineer and firmware designer who initially began working with Draganfly in 2006 as a contractor. Tim became a permanent employee…

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