The private equity firm J.F. Lehman & Company on Wednesday said it has made a “substantial investment” in Trillium Engineering, a small developer and provider of gimbaled camera systems for small unmanned aircraft systems.
The amount of the investment wasn’t disclosed. Trillium, which is based in Hood River, Ore., has about more than 35 employees.
Trillium on its website says it had a significant increase in its sensor contracts in 2020 versus 2019, going from nine multi-unit orders for its ultra-lightweight electro-optical and infrared gimbaled system to 22 multi-unit orders.
“We believe Trillium is rapidly establishing itself as the leading provider of camera gimbal technology in the growing UAS marketplace,” Mike Friedman, a managing director with J.F. Lehman, said in a statement. “The disciplined leadership by the company’s founders has fostered both an environment of technical and commercial excellence and the commitment of talented employees who have established a culture of innovation and premium levels of customer services…We believe Trillium’s market-leading product portfolio, blue-chip customer base and established content on leading UAS platforms leaves the business well positioned to benefit from the significant expansion anticipated in the unmanned market.”
Trillium has five product lines of gimbaled cameras and provides the software for the gimbal’s user interface. The company’s gimbaled cameras range from the HD25, which weighs about three-quarters of a pound to its largest system, the HD85, which tops out at over 9 pounds.
Trillium’s customers include domestic and international defense and government original equipment manufacturers, integrators and end-users.
The most contract orders have been for the HD55-MV, which weighs nearly 4 pounds, and the HD45-LV, which weighs just over 2.5 pounds. Trillium began shipments of the HD55-MV last summer, with Lockheed Martin [LMT] for its Stalker small UAS for overseas intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
Trillium’s financial advisor on the transaction was Houlihan Lokey.