Volansi, a Silicon Valley-based drone maker backed by $75 million in venture capital funding, is in assignment for benefit of creditors (ABC) status.
The company filed for ABC status with the California Secretary of State’s office on Aug. 1. The filing lists Michael Maidy as the company’s agent. Maidy is the president of California-based
Sherwood Partners, Inc. and would presumably try to market Volansi’s intellectual property (IP) and patents to other aerospace companies. Sherwood’s website lists Maidy as an accountant and financial adviser who specializes in crisis management.
Volansi has 12 patents, but the future of them is uncertain, per an Aug. 16 post by Alec Sorensen, the CEO of Tradespace, Inc., a firm dedicated to facilitating the commercialization of IP.
In March, Volansi unveiled its VOLY 50 series drone for long-range flight with a 50-pound payload (Defense Daily, March 30). The company has teamed with Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) for the Army’s Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (FTUAS) Increment 2 program with an offering based on the Voly 50 series.
Defense Daily will update this story with any comments from Volansi and Maidy.
Volansi was founded “in 2015 as a direct response to inventory and supply chain problems” at Tesla [TSLA], Volansi has said. “Founders Hannan Parvizian and Wesley Zheng saw that emerging drone technologies could be used to drastically improve the way Tesla was serving its customers. Now, Volansi’s technologies are at the forefront of autonomous flight. Every day, our drones take parts, medical supplies, aid and critical equipment exactly where it needs to be, no matter the terrain.”
In March last year, Volansi said that former U.S. Air Force acquisition chief, Will Roper, would join Volansi’s board of directors and that he would aid the company with its strategy, operations, and growth in the defense market (Defense Daily, March 4, 2021).
“Volansi is exactly the kind of company I was hoping would come work in the Air Force,” Roper said then in a joint appearance with Hannan Parvizian, Volansi CEO and co-founder. “[They have] huge potential to change the world in a big way.”
In July last year, Volansi made Roper its CEO, and Parvizian moved to the position of the company’s chief technology officer.
Roper was the CEO of Volansi at least until the end of last year, but Parvizian was the CEO again when the company announced its Voly 50 in March. Volansi’s web site no longer lists Roper as an executive or as a board member.