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January 11, 2022

Hartford drone company creates insurance subsidiary

HBJ Photo | Matt Pilon Barry Alexander (right) is the CEO of Aquiline Drones.
By Skyler Frazer

Aquiline Drones has created its own insurance captive to self-insure its products, services, and those of its affiliates, company officials said.

Aquiline Drones, a Hartford-based drone manufacturer and services provider, announced earlier this month that it acquired the necessary licensing to establish Aquiline Drones Indemnity Corporation, its own insurance subsidiary. The approvals were given through the state’s Insurance Department, and company officials said they’re the first U.S. drone manufacturer to create an insurance subsidiary.

According to company officials, the insurance license allows Aquiline to assume the risk of its entire group of companies, indemnify its line of products and services and insure the risk of its partners and affiliates. The company will also indemnify products used by Aquiline’s nationwide supply of drone service providers.

The new Aquiline Drones Indemnity Corp. can write insurance policies to cover multiple lines of commercial UAV and drone operations based on Aquiline’s current risk mitigation and management protocols. The company can insure its drone manufacturing, cloud-connected drone operations, and drone safety training services.

“There are so many hobbyists and inexperienced drone operators out there who haven’t completed any formal UAV/drone training, nor do they have access to appropriate and flexible liability coverage,” Aquiline Drones Founder and CEO Barry Alexander said. “Our goal is to introduce various aspects of safety at every level and opportunity in a UAV/drone operations environment, for every drone business or individual operator, in keeping them safe and compliant as well as protecting the interest of the general public.”

Aquiline Drones made several moves in 2021. In August, the company completed a 50% acquisition of Aerialtronics, a Dutch drone and information technology company, for $9 million. In September, company officials said they had purchased ElluminAI Labs, an artificial intelligence software company, for an undisclosed price.

In October, though, the company announced it laid off 33 employees, almost half of its workforce. Company officials said it was grappling with supply chain disruptions and pandemic-related restrictions on travel at the time.

Officials from Aquiline Drones said at the time it expected to rehire most of the affected workers “as soon as these supply chain and economic challenges are behind us.”

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