Embraer will acquire a minority shareholding in XMobots, Latin America’s largest drone company. 

Based in São Carlos, Brazil, and founded in 2007, XMobots will use the investment to accelerate its development of medium and large autonomous air vehicles. The transaction will be made via an investment fund in which Embraer is the sole partner, with an additional investment option in the future. 

The deal aims to accelerate the future of the medium and large autonomous air vehicle market and jointly explore new market niches. It also seeks to expand the collaboration network in the research of new technologies that have synergies within Embraer’s technology strategy and Embraer-X business incubator.  

“Our investment strategy and venture capital operations have a strong emphasis on innovation and partnerships, which are pillars of our growth plan for the coming years,” says Daniel Moczydlower, head of Innovation at Embraer and president and CEO of Embraer-X. “Initiatives like this are fundamental to leverage ecosystems, expand knowledge and recognize entrepreneurs who generate businesses with exponential growth potential and high-value creation for society.”

The investment is about more than XMobot’s aircraft. The company has developed the XSurvey app to link via Bluetooth with its baseline XRTK 184B aircraft, the XMC sensor and XMobot’s LiPo Pack battery. Its aircraft, in addition to the basic XRTK, include the Arator 5C, a flying wing design launched in 2016; the Nauru500C vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, featuring a quadrotor and fixed wing hybrid design to maximize operations; and the Draktor 25A, released in 2020, which features the company’s XFarming software that automatically detects weed bushes for precision spraying, as well as a mapping module.   

  “This engagement results in innovations such as service provider platforms with drones, hybrid propulsion and power technologies, artificial intelligence of image analysis, and especially in aeronautical certifications,” says Giovani Amianti, founder and CEO of XMobots. “With this investment, we will be able to walk together in the development of technologies that will consolidate autonomous aerial robots and accelerate solutions for the geotechnology, agro, environmental, inspection, defense and public security, logistics and urban mobility markets that are points of convergence between XMobots and Embraer.”

 Embraer-X spun off Embraer’s uncrewed air vehicle initiative, Eve, in 2021. Through a merger with Zanite in 2022, the business became Eve Holding, consisting of both the electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and the company’s work in air traffic management for eVTOLs. Embraer serves the agricultural market with its Ipanema aircraft, which runs on ethanol.