Foldable PowderBuddy drone saves skiiers' lives

Konstantin Kollar, one of four founders of the Hamburg-based Bluebird Mountain GmbH, said: “Avalanche transceivers alone are not ideal. Finding the precise location is quite complicated and time-consuming.” Enter PowderBuddy; a collapsible drone developed by Bluebird Mountain to help with the search. “When an avalanche starts tearing down a mountainside, the drone’s trigger handle is pulled. PowderBuddy is catapulted out of its tube on the backpack, unfolds, starts automatically and follows the user’s avalanche beacon at a safe distance from the surface,” Kollar explained. Thanks to the colour of the signal, the drone is visible from afar and recovery operations can begin quickly. If someone has been buried in the snow, the drone hovers above the exact location thus easing the retrieval of the victim.

Six years passed from the initial idea until the company actually launched in 2017. “We were still students at the time, and started our first jobs after graduating.” After a while, all four found that their contracts had expired more or less at the same time. “That made the idea of starting our own business a priority again. But we were faced with the question of how to start a high-tech company.” 

Kollar graduated in energy and environmental engineering while Müller is an aircraft systems technician and Obermeier a software developer. Leppert has a Masters in international economics. The founders eventually turned to the Startup Dock at the Technical University of Hamburg (TUHH) for assistance. “By then, we had received plenty of positive feedback about our drone, but we faced tough questions in the Startup Dock about selling the product, the costs of development and production and how to source the money. “

Kollar is well aware of the need for early financing. “And especially when it comes to implementing a hardware idea. Setting up production requires an intense investment.” So far, the start-up has been financed mainly by an EXIST start-up grant from the German Ministry of Economics and Energy and funds from the Hamburgische Investitions- und Förderbank (IFB) InnoRampUp programme. That allowed the start-up to develop its current prototype called Icarus. In February, some 25 new generation drones were delivered to test customers and partners for feedback from more experienced winter sports enthusiasts in various scenarios and to drive development. “We are also trying to become more diversified and to sell simpler versions faster,” said Kollar. Plans also foresee a drone that takes off manually and searches for avalanche victims.

The new portal www.future.hamburg shows exciting, regional innovations. Innovators and investors will find helpful contacts, entertaining information and inspiration there. Projects show how creative new developments in mobility, logistics, virtual reality and 3D printing are changing life and work in the city e. g. in a report about the start-ups Nüwiel or Bluebird Mountain.
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