Thank you for 2024 – a year of progress
As we wrap up 2024, we would like to begin by saying a warm Thank You to our colleagues, clients, partners, and network. Our goal is to enable the acquisition of actionable data for our customers, and we are delighted to see a number of highly valuable missions flown this year, providing business-critical information to companies and authorities.
This year has been exciting, demanding, and rewarding as we have introduced our unique offer to the market, targeting clients in the US, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
We have more clearly defined our offerings in our key verticals, particularly in Large-scale Infrastructure Inspection – encompassing both Powerline inspection and Gas Detection. Additionally, we have invested in further refining our hybrid-electric UAS, the Xer X8, into a compelling solution for demanding missions, significantly increasing the flight hours for the platform.
Key Partnerships
During the year, we formalized several key partnerships, strengthening our presence and offering in our key markets. We also signed a sales agency agreement with Volatus Drones, which has successfully represented us in the North American market.
We have made good progress in Australia, initially focusing on powerline inspection services with the Xer X8.
We are now integrated with a wide range of payloads from market-leading enterprises. What previously was only doable by helicopter has now been made possible through the Xer X8 multicopter platform.
With YellowScan, a leader in UAV LiDAR solutions, we announced the successful integration of the YellowScan Navigator bathymetric system with the Xer X8, enabling unprecedented long-range bathymetric surveys and inspections. The Xer X8 has already flown missions with the Navigator in 5 countries in 2024!
We also integrated the TrueView 720 LiDAR and imagery sensor from GeoCue, a leading provider of scalable long-range LiDAR and imagery drone mapping technology.
For infrared imaging systems, we have worked intensively with Sierra-Olympia Technologies, on integrating their state-of-the-art Optical Gas Imaging cameras, like the Ventus OGI, for gas detection. Another valuable sensor partnership we struck up this year was with Pergam-Suisse and their TDLAS technology, allowing for very detailed measurements of gas emissions from the air.
We also announced the successful integration of the Wiris Enterprise from Workswell, offering a groundbreaking solution for wildfire management with improved capabilities in early detection, rapid response, and strategic wildfire management.
We integrated an additional five ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) solutions, including several high-end EO/IR gimbal systems.
On the software side, we announced our partnership with Scopito to deliver high-quality, actionable data to powerline operators. This provides customers with faster, safer, and more accurate insights to make informed decisions and enhance operational efficiency. We are also collaborating closely with Linia, recently acquired by Axpo Group offering their state-of-the-art automation inspection software as an integrated solution.
Important shows and events
Our team had a busy year, focusing on the most essential shows across our markets. We showcased solutions for all our key verticals with our partners and impressed many people this year. Thanks to all the smart, friendly, supportive professionals we met!
A few highlights:
Our year kicked off at the UMEX Expo in Abu Dhabi in January. There, the team showcased the Xer X8 to interested professionals in the Middle East and around the world, focusing on its capabilities for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions. We were also in Australia, meeting with customers and verifying the platform’s ability to fly in >40 C temperatures.
In April, we visited the XPONENTIAL Show in San Diego, then onwards to Odense in Denmark and the International Drone Show , organized by the UAS Denmark Test Center and Odense Robotics.
In June, we returned to the States for the Energy Drone & Robotics Coalition Summit in Houston, Texas. We also participated in a range of demo events with Volatus in North America and exhibited at the APSCON in Houston.
We joined the Commercial UAV News webinar, where Xer CEO Kristofer Skantze joined a panel of industry experts on Drone commercialization in the EU.
We also joined the Commercial UAV News Expo in Las Vegas, where we had the opportunity for live flight demonstrations for many of the show participants.
Back in Europe, we participated in demonstration flights and key meetings in the fall in Portugal, Spain, and Italy, together with YellowScan, among others. During our flights at REPMUS in Portugal, we were able to do detailed bathymetric measurements, also on days when other UAVs were grounded due to strong winds.
We also participated in the SPRINT Robotics World conference in Antwerp, Belgium – a premier global conference on robotics for Inspection, Maintenance, and more.
We decided not to publish any information from our participation in the rescue efforts after the catastrophic rainfalls and floodings in Valencia, Spain, at the beginning of November. We received a request to come and fly missions and were able to be on-site within 48 hours. It was very humbling to be invited by the local search and rescue authorities to be allowed to participate and to contribute to the rescue efforts. The event clearly showed the benefit of performing missions from the air, complementing already existing rescue efforts taking place from land, sea, and air.
We have in 2024 increasingly deepened our collaboration with various armed forces, in particular the Swiss armed forces and have several projects lined up for 2025 in Switzerland and elsewhere.
Other Significant Milestones
In September, we announced that Xer Technologies had become a 100% subsidiary of Rex International Holding Limited, an increase from Rex’s previous 53.33% ownership, allowing us to expand our offering and achieve a stronger position in the market faster. Rex is a strong oil and gas company with producing oil assets offshore Oman and Norway, with a clear growth strategy for the next years.
We significantly simplified payload integration onto the Xer X8 platform. It is now possible to install a new payload in a matter of minutes and switch between e.g., gas leak detection mission sensor and powerline inspection mission sensor in less than a minute. Some of the current Xer X8 users already today switch between Gas Emission monitor sensors, high-end EO cameras, and LiDAR on almost a daily basis. A true Swiss pocketknife of capabilities!
Outlook for 2025
Xer is fully committed to a high level of UAS platform reliability and has in 2024 invested in many hours of flight testing both to fine-tune the platform and also to investigate targeted failure scenarios to verify what happens in the air when various failure scenarios occur. The results have been very encouraging and also led to further improvement and platform stability.
For 2025, Xer will continue investing in amassing as many flight hours as possible.
The regulatory framework changes rapidly, and in 2025, it is possible that significant improvements will be made to simplify approval for typical Xer X8 missions, including Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BLVOS) missions. We expect to see the FAA Part 108 entering into force, significant modifications to Transport Canada’s framework, and SORA 2.5 coming into force in Europe.
Key project activities will include multiple offshore operations projects. We are also involved in several BVLOS projects both over land and sea on several continents.
We have started several highly novel technology integrations and development projects in 2024, which we hope to announce already in 2025.
Xer would not have been where we are without the commitment from all clients, colleagues, suppliers, and partners. We are humbled by the valuable support received in 2024 and remain fully committed to supporting our customers and eco system in 2025!
