GLOBHE Drones convey data that changes the world

The exciting start-up company, GLOBHE Drones, provides image data from freelance drone pilots. Customers and suppliers are able to meet through the platform, Crowddroning by GLOBHE. Matilda Waara Holmqvist talks about how GLOBHE discovered the foundation of the business, how their data is helpful in the event of natural disasters, and what legal challenges she faces as a marketing manager.

Matilda Waara Holmqvist has worked at GLOBHE Drones for a year and a half. Her title is Head of Marketing. Matilda has an extensive background in marketing, and has previously worked for larger companies before she agreed to join GLOBHE's start-up.

“The big difference in working at a start-up is that no processes are in place; that responsibility lies with you and your team. It has been very exciting. When I started, the company only consisted of four employees, but since then we have managed to scale up considerably. Today, we have 11 people in our team spread out in different parts of the world. Since we have a service with a very wide range of uses, we also have a very broad target group, from authorities and large organisations to SMEs.”

“Drone as a service”

Matilda calls the company a “drone as a service” company, as the service is based on a SaaS model (software as a service). The entire business is established on the digital platform Crowddroning by GLOBHE. When a customer requests data from a specific area via the platform, GLOBHE connects the request with one of their freelance drone pilots who is in the right place.

“We do not sell a hardware product, but rather the service of connecting data with needs. We do not have our own drones, instead we connect to the drones that already exist in the world, which we think is important from a sustainability perspective.”

She continues to describe how the service works:

“One option is to buy services when needed. The UN is one such customer. They order data for different reasons, such as when there has been a natural disaster. They are then able to get an overview of the area and know where to initiate rescue efforts. The second alternative is to have a subscription, and then it is usually a matter of observing changes over time. It can be anything from inspecting telecom towers, to detecting environmental damage. In one such mission, we contribute data to stop the spread of malaria in Africa. This is accomplished by using drone information to see where the mosquitoes build their nests.”

GLOBHE meets Synch

GLOBHE and Synch met in a forum for start-ups just after Matilda started at GLOBHE, which then led to a collaboration. The company had just closed a crowdfunding campaign and was in dire need of legal help.

“When Synch came into the picture, we had just finished a big campaign. Already at this point, we received quality support in ensuring that we were on the right side of all legal aspects. Since then, the collaboration has continued. In many ways, Synch has helped us to move forward with the company and provided us with the tools we need. My impression is that they are very sharp, competent and easily accessible. What has made it much easier for us, is that all material, and all communication, is always pedagogically structured - a big plus for a start-up.”

The greatest legal challenges that Matilda faces on a daily basis, concern corporate governance. Synch supports GLOBHE with legal issues that concern everything from shares to questions that arise before an Annual General Meeting, or just to handle company meeting minutes in the correct way. Another large area is to produce a legal base for raising VC capital.

“The collaboration continues to develop all the time. As this is a new type of communication, and a new network for me as well, I have needed a lot of support. I feel that I have received a lot of help with legal issues that have arisen as we scale-up. A recent example involves concerns for our website. We needed support with the handling of personal data and cookie policy, and of course a lot that concerns GDPR. We also have a subscription for the tool, WeSynch, which has great templates for different types of legal contracts and protocols.”

"Data is the new gold"

Going forward, GLOBHE is heading into an upscaling phase, in which they want to further develop their platform, broaden the company, and focus on reaching more target groups. The business started with assignments in Africa, and therefore the business is mainly internationally based at present. However, they want to start exploring Sweden's potential to a greater extent in the future.

“Now that we have all the parts in place, we just want to focus on strengthening our business core, and continue working with our four verticals: health, environment, water and infrastructure. We feel that we have definitely landed well with the service as it is now. Data is the new gold, I usually say, the need for analysis is stronger than ever.”

In the continued upscaling process, Synch is firmly involved in the journey, and Matilda feels satisfied with a secure, continued partnership.

“We continue with the well-functioning structure we have so far. Since we do not have an internal lawyer, Synch works a bit like our extended arm, and that's exactly how we want to continue the collaboration."