Growing reliance on aerial data and automation positions the sector for exponential long-term growth
NEW YORK, April 29, 2026 /CNW/ -- Market News Updates News Commentary Counter- Drones as a Service (DaaS) is quickly becoming one of the most practical and scalable ways for businesses to adopt drone technology without the heavy upfront investment. Instead of buying, maintaining, and staffing drone fleets, companies can access on-demand aerial data, inspections, and analytics through a subscription or pay-per-use model. That flexibility is a major driver behind the market's rapid growth--valued around $6--8 billion today and projected to surge anywhere from $27 billion to as high as $179+ billion by 2030, with some forecasts pushing beyond $500 billion by the mid-2030s as adoption accelerates globally. A rising wave of ambitious companies are quickly scaling operations and staking out leadership positions in the fast-growing DaaS and UAS sectors including: ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZENA), Ondas Inc. $(ONDS)$, Unusual Machines, Inc. (NYSE American: UMAC), Draganfly Inc. $(DPRO)$, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $(KTOS)$.
For businesses, the biggest benefit of DaaS is efficiency and cost savings. Companies in industries like construction, agriculture, energy, and logistics can deploy drones for surveying, mapping, inspections, and monitoring without investing in hardware or specialized personnel. This dramatically reduces operational costs while improving speed and data accuracy. Drones can complete tasks in hours that traditionally took days, while delivering real-time analytics that improve decision-making and productivity. As a result, DaaS is becoming a high-ROI solution across commercial sectors, especially where recurring inspections and data collection are critical.
On the defense and government side, DaaS offers a powerful combination of scalability, rapid deployment, and advanced intelligence capabilities. Military and public safety agencies use drone services for surveillance, border security, disaster response, and infrastructure monitoring--often leveraging AI-powered analytics and real-time data feeds. The "as-a-service" model allows governments to quickly scale operations without long procurement cycles, making it ideal for dynamic environments and emergency response. With increasing adoption of autonomous systems, beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations, and smart city initiatives, DaaS is positioning itself as a critical backbone for next-generation defense and public sector operations--further fueling its massive projected market expansion in the years ahead.
ZenaTech's (NASDAQ: ZENA) Reports Record 558% Year-Over-Year Revenue Growth to $12.9 Million for Full Year 2025 as Drone as a Service Business Expansion Accelerates and Q4 Revenue increases 670% - Total assets grew 188% to $99.8 million; DaaS segment delivered over $10 million in first full year of operations - ZenaTech, Inc. ($ZENA) (FSE: 49Q) (BMV: ZENA) ("ZenaTech"), a technology company specializing in AI-powered drone systems, Drone as a Service (DaaS), enterprise SaaS solutions, and Quantum Computing applications, announces its financial results for the full-year ended December 31, 2025 (all figures are expressed in Canadian dollars).
The Company reported record year-end revenue of $12.9 million, a 558% increase compared to almost $2.0 million for the full year 2024. The revenue growth was driven by the successful execution of ZenaTech's Drone as a Service strategy, completing 20 acquisitions in 2025, including 19 land surveying and inspection companies across the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, and the U.K.-based enterprise software company Othership Limited. Total assets increased 188% from $34.6 million to $99.8 million, as compared to the same period in 2024.
By the Numbers -- Full Year 2025
FY2025 FY2024 Change
Total Revenue $12.9M $2.0M +558 %
Total Assets $99.8M $34.6M +188 %
Cash + Reserves $15.1M $3.8M +301 %
Working Capital $18.3M $3.4M +439 %
Acquisitions Completed 20 2 --
Fourth Quarter 2025 and Recent Highlights
-- Counter-UAS for Defense: ZenaDrone commenced prototype development of two
interceptor drones (gas-powered ZenaDrone 2000 and one-way Interceptor
P-1) and a marine launching station (IQ Glider) to enter the
maritime-based interceptor drone and integrated defense system market
-- New Facilities, Global Expansion- Asia and Ukraine: The company opened an
office in South Korea and announced it plans to open drone manufacturing
and testing operations in Ukraine
-- Green/Blue UAS certification: The company added the ZenaDrone 1000 for
certification, and now has three drones in the Green UAS certification
process, the pathway to Blue UAS certification, which will enable future
inclusion in U.S. Defense procurement contracts
-- Record Q4 Revenue Growth: Revenue for Q4 2025 was $5.2 million, a 670%
increase from Q4 of 2024
-- New Acquisitions/Drone as a Service Locations: The company announced
completion of multiple land survey company acquisitions and added a new
corporate location in Orlando to its Drone as a Service network, bringing
the total current number of DaaS global locations to 24. The company also
acquired an HR services software company (Now Solutions) adding a 12th
brand to its SaaS business segment
-- New Products: ZenaDrone launched new products including the IQ Quad
specifically built for land surveys, the IQ Aqua for underwater
surveillance, and added quantum navigation software for GPS-denied
environments for its drones
Full year 2025 Highlights
-- Record Revenue Growth: Revenue for the full year of 2025 was $12.9
million, a 558% increase year-over-year from 2024
-- Drone as a Service Segment Growth: Drone as a Service contributed $10.1
million in revenue the full year of 2025
-- Enterprise Software Segment Growth: Enterprise SaaS Software segment
revenue grew to $2.8 million for the full year of 2025 which represents a
43% increase over the full year of 2024
-- Operational Expansion: Completed 20 acquisitions consisting of 19 land
survey and mapping, inspection, and cleaning companies plus one
enterprise software acquisition (Othership Limited) during 2025,
strengthening the company's Drone as a Service global footprint to 19
locations across the U.S., the U.K. and Canada
-- Working Capital: Increased to $18.3 million as of December 31, 2025,
compared to $3.4 million on December 31, 2024
-- Healthy Balance Sheet Cash and reserves increased to $15.1 million as of
December 31, 2025, up from $3.8 million on December 31, 2024
"This has been a transformational year for ZenaTech, marked by strong execution against our drone business strategy, meaningful progress across our software segment, and foundation-building progress towards future success for our defense business. Our revenue growth of over 558% and total assets surpassing $99.8 million demonstrates the building of significant commercial traction," said Shaun Passley, Ph.D., ZenaTech CEO. "In 2025, we accelerated the rollout of our Drone as a Service model establishing a scalable AI-driven autonomy platform that positions us for long-term, recurring revenue growth. We successfully executed on our DaaS acquisition strategy completing 20 acquisitions -- including 19 land surveying and legacy business acquisitions and one enterprise software acquisition -- establishing drone integration and a meaningful revenue base in our first full year of DaaS operations. At the same time, we advanced bringing ZenaDrone's innovative solutions closer to commercial and defense deployment and deepened our engagement with military stakeholders for demonstrations and pilot opportunities that we believe will be critical in validating our technology to unlocking future defense contracts. As we look ahead, we are focused on building on this momentum, scaling our platforms, and converting this progress into sustained growth and shareholder value."...
,,, "The demand for drone solutions in both the defense and commercial markets continues at double digit growth, and we believe that we can capture meaningful market share in 2026 and beyond," added Dr. Pasley. "Our real time response to emerging needs on the international stage has positioned us as a leader in the drone space. We are creating products for land, sea, and air defense, addressing critical asymmetrical modern warfare, that is enemy threats that are inexpensive to deploy but extraordinarily expensive to counter using traditional intercept methods. Our small one-way Interceptor P-1, planned to be priced at less than $5000 USD can manage drone swarms, and our IQ Aqua, which can detect and respond to underwater mine threats without putting divers or manned vessels at risk, will provide our defense customers with cost-effective, scalable solutions. Further, we announced this month that we are in the process of establishing a manufacturing facility and operations in Ukraine to accelerate production of our defense interceptor systems, as well as a testing facility to validate our products under an active threat environment," concluded Dr. Pasley. Continued... Read this full release and additional news for ZENA by visiting: https://www.zenatech.com/newsroom/
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April 29, 2026 09:48 ET (13:48 GMT)
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