A drone company has secured £3.5 million in equity funding to help it develop new products and services.

Geospatial Insight, based in Coleshill, specialises in satellite and drone research and will use the funding to develop its visual intelligence technology.

Its technology was used in the wake of Hurricane Harvey in Texas last year where live footage was broadcast from its drone network.

Because some areas were rendered out of reach due to impassable roads, the live footage meant insurers were able to evaluate objects as small as 1cm, expediting claims and reimbursing thousands displaced from their homes.

The firm has also used social media to develop its response to natural disasters by creating a programme that automatically gathers all feeds relating to a major event, giving analysts the chance to gather information related to affected properties and locations.

The company also works with firms in sectors such as finance, trading markets and insurance.

This latest round of funding has come from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, managed by Midven, alongside Foresight Williams and VenturesOne.

Midven director Surjit Kooner said: "This £3.5 million capital injection will prove vital as Geospatial Insight begins its recruitment drive - capitalising on what is an extremely high-growth sector.

"Geopsatial's use of machine learning techniques has significantly increased the volume of data that can be analysed and packaged into truly scalable actionable intelligence products."