During the six-month period, we have completed multiple activities to determine certain aspects of the market that are critical for the success and expansion of the business. This study has included 4 different topics:
(A) User's acceptance; We have studied the current design and functionality of the platform against the current trend and user needs. This process has been a combination of informal reviews and product instrumentation, so user sessions could be remotely monitored. In parallel, we have established a clear channel of communication with our most important users, which are also helping us prioritize the features in our roadmap and ultimately, our business plan.
(B) Market Study: Aerial Insights has conducted strategic product positioning and market analysis across five reference verticals. These verticals are mining, farming, solar inspection, insurance and wind energy. They have been shortlisted based on multiple dimensions such as our expected time to market, the investment required, market size and willingness of customers to accept a solution that leverages drone data. The outcome is an analysis of the market conditions (offer, demand and existing supply of products) and further refinement of the total available market size, competitors, growth and market penetration perspectives (growth rate).
(C) Technological assessment: We have determined, according to the priorities set in the previous topics, what is the minimal set of features that are required to make the product available to the end user. Incrementally, we have researched the ability to operate the resulting business and the possibilities to protect intellectual property.
(D) New plan for the dissemination and exploitation of the results.
The previous exercises, plus the technical deployments (new software releases targeted at testing our findings) have demonstrated that:
- There is a real appetite for solutions in the mining and solar sectors, which have materialized in several agreements for commercialization
- There are other markets that are not adequate, immature or are not growing at the right pace. Some of them were the focus of our business prior to the SME Instrument program
- Product fit is key for monetization, so it is direct access to customers in the context of a real case scenario. For these conversations to be successful it is key for them to have immediate access to a software package, even if not fully featured, can be used straight away.
- From a broad perspective, our technology is competitive with respect to that of other competitors but improves when considered as part of a specific vertical where theirs lack specialization.
