Drone Racing League Season 2: More Funding, More Drones

Drone Racing League Season 2 acquires $20m in additional Series B funding and is ready for takeoff next week on ESPN.

byMarco Margaritoff|
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The 2017 season of Drone Racing League (DRL) will commence next Tuesday, at 8pm (ET) on June 20th. DRL pits the top drone pilots from around the world, maneuvering high speed quadcopters through fluorescent courses built around iconic international locations. We're one week away from the opening race and DRL has completed yet another round of Series B funding. According to TechCrunch, the additional $20m dollars comes from a combined effort from Sky (Telecommunications), Liberty Media Corporation (who actually owns the "Formula 1" racing brand), and Lux Capital. 

Not too shabby, especially since DRL has already raised capital from Allianz (sponsor of the Championship) and World Wrestling Entertainment, bringing their total to a whopping $32m. This funding adds much needed validity to the future success of the bleeding edge sport of drone racing, all while setting a precedent for how valued this new market is. 

Drone Racing League season one began in 2016, to an overwhelmingly large broadcast audience of over 28.2 million people in the United States alone. Instead of broadcasting live, DRL schedules air dates for episodes, so they can reach as many fans in all available time-zones as possible, as opposed to losing a chunk of their audience by committing to live broadcast date. Season two promises improvements, namely then new Racer 3, capable of speeds up to 90 mph, a significant increase from last year's 80 mph threshold. 

We're patiently waiting for this Championship to kick off on Tuesday to see what these new drones and courses have in store. In case you missed it, we had a chance to sit down with founder and CEO of DRL, Nicholas Horbaczewski to talk about the changes in Season 2 as well as info on the newest and fastest Racer 3 drone. How about you? Chime in below and tell us how you feel about this new sport. Are you getting curious? 

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