Drone subsidiaries & associates

Parrot has a portfolio of outstanding companies and interests in commercial drones, covering equipment, software and services. Its expert capabilities are focused primarily on three vertical markets: (i) Agriculture, (ii) 3D Mapping, Surveying and Inspection, and (iii) Defense and Security.

With recognized brands, strong management (biographies below) and complementary positioning, the subsidiaries and associates are focusing on the development of their commercial activities, jointly or independently addressing the needs of consumers, professionals, businesses and major groups, as well as the rest of the drone industry.

The five subsidiaries and five associates are presented below:

Parrot Drones houses the consumer business and the range of Parrot products for professionals. The company is focused on a range of high-tech, lightweight drones, combining performance and multi-capabilities with an international commercial organization managed out of France and client services with global capabilities. Progress in the Defense and Security sector is being reinforced by the interests in Planck Aerosystems and Sky Hero.

Pix4D dominates the market for drone modelling software with Pix4Dmapper. With industry-leading European R&D and a strong international presence, the company has developed a diverse range of solutions (mobile, desktop, cloud, SaaS, business) for different sectors (mapping, construction, agriculture), meeting the needs of 50.000 users.

SenseFly continues to lead the segment for fixed-wing commercial drones. Recognized for its performance capabilities, the eBee X drone, on sale since early October, includes cutting-edge technology. The solutions deployed for over 4,000 active clients combine drones, sensors and complete solutions for the advanced integration of drones in the most promising sectors (mapping, surveillance and inspection, agriculture).

Micasense develops and markets the world’s most widely used and most powerful precision data sensors for precision farming.

The expert capabilities in place for precision farming have been further strengthened by the interest in Chouette Vision, a company that is developing drone-based vine monitoring solutions.

The other minority interests are Iconem, which is contributing to the digital conservation of the world’s architectural heritage, and Dendra Systems, which is working to support reforestation; they both illustrate the benefits of drones for conservation and sustainable development.

Gilles Labossière is Executive Director of senseFly, the Swiss subsidiary leading the professional fixed-wing drone market and of MicaSense, the American subsidiary specialised in sensors for drones in precision agriculture. Gilles Labossière had joined Parrot in September 2008 as the Group's Chief Financial and Administrative Officer and was also COO and Executive Director of Parrot Drone before he took over the management of this two strategic subsidiaries. A graduate of HEC, he began his career as a Manager with the audit firm Arthur Andersen. In 1991, he was appointed to serve on the executive management committee of the logistics group Saga as Chief Internal Audit Officer then Chief Financial & Operations Officer. In 1997, he joined Techpack International as Chief Financial & Operations Officer. In 2000, he was involved in founding Republic Alley, a reknown incubator for innovative companies in France, where he was Chairman. In 2003, he became Chief Financial & Operations Officer at Linedata Services, before joining Rocamat as Deputy Chief Executive Officer to drive the turnaround of this company. 

Dr. Christoph Strecha is the CEO and founder of Pix4D, a global leading professional drone software company headquartered in Switzerland, with offices in the USA, Germany, Spain and China. After it first invested in 2013, Parrot today owns 95% of Pix4D.

Pix4D develops and markets software for production of survey grade 3D models, orthomosaics and analytics from images which can be used in a variety of industries. Pix4D's technology is focused on the professional processing of images aquired by any camera, it is adapted to all the leading drone equipment.

Christoph Strecha received a PhD from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) in 2008, completing his thesis on multi-view stereo. His research interests include structure and motion techniques and city modeling. A prominent figure in his field, Christoph Strecha is still involved in the work of several Commissions of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. He has authored numerous papers and in 2015 received the Carl Pulfrich Award for his work in computer vision and photogrammetry.

Eric Waters is General Manager of MicaSense, a leading precision AG sensor and solutions provider for farmers and agronomists. Founded in 2014, the American company (based in Seattle, Washington) is currently 80% held by Parrot.

Eric Waters has over 20 years experience in the aerospace industry with proven success in growing business through effective customer relations, strategic partnerships, and developing new business in untapped markets. He began his career in the early 90’s focusing on Sales and Business Development in the aerospace sector in companies based in the United States and in France. In mid 2010 he helped found a drone start-up focused on research and development of unmanned aircraft (UAS/UAV) utilized for environmental and wildlife research. In 2013 he managed the development of custom power products for Crane Aerospace & Electronics, leading supplier of critical systems and components to the aerospace, defense and space markets.

Justin McAllister is CTO and Co-Founder of MicaSense, a leading precision AG sensor and solutions provider for farmers and agronomists. Founded in 2014, the American company (based in Seattle, Washington) is currently 80% held by Parrot.

Justin McAllister co-founded MicaSense in 2014. He is a hands-on unmanned systems architect with a strong applied background in board-level hardware design, embedded software, control systems, robotics, and wireless communications. A graduate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas, Justin McAllister started his career creating hyperspectral camera systems for defense applications. Since, he has spent his career advancing the drone industry, with almost a decade as a Systems Engineer and Technical Lead in the Advanced Systems group at AeroVironment and the remainder designing hardware and software systems at MicaSense.