Nearly a decade ago, brothers Aviv and Matteo Shapira co-founded Replay, a company that pioneered a video format for immersive 360-degree replays, which have become integral to major sports broadcasts. In 2016, Intel recognized Replay’s potential and acquired the company for a reported $175 million. This acquisition led Aviv and Matteo to meet Rubi Liani, founder of Israel's official drone racing league (FRIL), who introduced them to the exciting world of drone racing and inspired their next venture, Xtend.
“Seeing the intersection of our experiences, we realized the need for a technology that simplifies drone operation,” Aviv shared. “Our aim was to make controlling powerful robots intuitive, much like how people use smartphones without needing extensive technical knowledge.”
Xtend offers a platform that enables operators to manage both in-house and third-party drones and robots. Users can control these machines directly—optionally using a VR headset—or train AI models for deployment, allowing drones to identify objects and navigate various environments. Today, Xtend announced a successful $40 million funding round led by Chartered Group, with a post-money valuation of approximately $110 million.
“Our platform empowers drones and robots to autonomously accomplish specific tasks, such as entering buildings and scanning environments,” Aviv explained. “Importantly, it retains critical decision-making—like assessing situations or adapting to unexpected events—within the hands of human supervisors.”
Xtend enhances operational efficiency by allowing supervisors to coordinate multiple drones and robots simultaneously, moving them autonomously between waypoints. The platform also analyzes historical data from past deployments to suggest optimal actions for operators.
Xtend’s Wolverine drone is a key component of this versatile platform. “Xos enables a single supervisor to oversee a series of robots executing tasks at diverse locations at once,” Aviv stated. “We believe that full autonomy is not the end goal but rather an essential element of our capabilities.”
Xtend positions its technology as flexible and applicable across various sectors, including public safety and logistics, while emphasizing its strong foothold in military, defense, and law enforcement. The company has secured contracts with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the U.S. Department of Defense to develop and evaluate its systems, including drone interceptor technologies, amassing a notable $9 million deal with the Pentagon's irregular warfare office.
Aviv is candid about Xtend's aspirations to explore what he refers to as "new civil market opportunities," such as private and public security applications. “Imagine a police officer steering drones to search a vast area for a suspect,” he envisioned. “Xtend enables these professionals to harness robotic support.”
However, this approach raises concerns, given the limited regulations governing law enforcement’s use of drones. Instances of drones surveilling legal demonstrations, such as the outcry from Congressional Democrats in 2020 over the use of drones and spy planes to monitor protests across various cities, highlight the need for careful consideration.
Recently, Xtend has attracted international scrutiny. Organizations like Statewatch and Informationsstelle Militarisierung (IMI) reported that Xtend, alongside other Israeli military firms involved in drone technology, obtained EU funding despite restrictions against financing military and defense projects.
Aviv has taken a resolutely pro-Israel stance amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas, asserting that Xtend has “redirected resources to fully support the IDF.” The company’s website features endorsements from Israeli troops in combat situations, emphasizing that Xtend facilitates “precision maneuvers in complex battlefields.”
In a discussion with The Wall Street Journal, Aviv revealed that Xtend has been collaborating with the IDF to counteract incendiary balloons from Gaza. More recently, their drones have aided in mapping Hamas's subterranean tunnels and have even embarked on reconnaissance missions with explosive payloads.
Despite the controversies surrounding its operations, Xtend’s business strategy appears effective. The company claims to have secured $50 million in contracts, serving a diverse clientele of over 50 organizations, including government defense entities. “We’re unlocking the potential of robotics in demanding situations like first response, search and rescue, and critical infrastructure assessments,” Aviv remarked. “Hundreds of Xtend’s drones and robotic systems are actively deployed worldwide, and we are continuously innovating Xos and our platforms to advance human-machine collaboration.”
With the new funding—totaling $65 million raised to date—Xtend is poised to expand its workforce by 50% across the U.S., Israel, and Singapore by year’s end. The company is set to shift towards a blended platform-as-a-service and software-as-a-service sales model, with international expansion plans centered on Japan.
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