Dronamics

Dronamics is on a mission to democratise airfreight by enabling same-day delivery for everyone, everywhere. We had the pleasure of placing their Chief Financial Officer, Paul Morton.

A start-up on the rise

Dronamics is the world’s leading middle-mile cargo drone developer and operator. The company has developed a new type of cargo aircraft, one that’s small, remotely piloted, and extremely fuel-efficient. It can transport up to 350 KG over 2,500 KM for a cost that's at least 50% lower than traditional air freight and generates ~90% fewer emissions.

The aircraft, dubbed the Black Swan, flies autonomously. It can be managed remotely via satellite and can land on short and unpaved runways, enabling on-demand point-to-point flights and same-day delivery even to the most remote locations that would otherwise take days to reach over ground or sea. 

Dronamics works with domestic air networks in Europe and is developing a network of droneports across key markets. It recently became the first cargo drone company to obtain a licence for flights in the EU. It will serve a variety of verticals, from pharma to food, from fashion to spare parts and freight giants such as DHL and Hellmann are booking up capacity. 

The right skillset

As start-ups grow, bringing a CFO on board can grant a deeper, more experienced strategic perspective to structuring, capital allocation, optimisation, and fundraising functions. The right CFO will channel that skill set into a strategic leadership role to create financial success for the company and its stakeholders.

This is exactly what Dronamics were looking for. They needed a problem solver and a builder to work alongside their CEO, Svilen Rangelov. Dronamics needed this new hire to become the backbone of the company’s financial performance in the coming years, orchestrating funding plans and growth to optimum effect. 

To match the company’s ambitions, the ideal candidate needed prior experience managing funding rounds and to have strong relationships with investment partners in the banks and VC communities. As well as, having the capability of building effective accounting/compliance reporting platforms enabling Dronamics to scale quickly, across multiple countries and entities. 

Paul Morton

We found all of that and more in Paul Morton. He’s a dynamic CFO well known for putting finance, strategy and data at the heart of a business. Paul has an incredible track record of driving significant revenue and multi-billion-dollar value growth in both B2C and B2B businesses. 

A self-starter with a natural problem-solving nature, Paul has corporate, M&A, and financing experience including IPO preparation, divestitures, and equity and debt raising. He’s worked hard to establish strong relationships among private investors, investment banks, and advisors. With Paul as CFO, we’re certain of continued success at Dronamics.

"We partnered with Founders Keepers to hire our first CFO. It goes without saying that this is a pivotal hire for our sustained success, and it owes much to the FK team’s obsession with understanding our business and working with us to draw up the right profile. Overall, their process was mindful to us and our candidates, rather than optimizing for pace. Their shortlist was spot on and their support in closing the top candidate was insightful and decisive. Highly recommended.”

Neil Wilks, Chief People Officer, Dronamics

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