A former Thiel fellow’s startup just launched a drone it says can replace police helicopters

Summary

When I speak to Blake Resnick, he’s walking around his drone startup’s newest office space in Seattle—a cavernous 50,000-square-foot facility that, Resnick estimates, won’t be fully set up until later in the year—potentially November. Still, the big (and for now, largely empty) building offers the promise of a fast-growing company intent on conquering its particular industry. The industry in question is public safety and the startup is Brinc, which sells drones to police and public agencies across the U.S. The company wants to be the “DJI of the West,” as Resnick has put it—a nod to the Chinese drone manufacturer and a signal that Resnick wants Brinc to become equally synonymous with the tech it sells. A former Thiel Fellow — a prestigious program that funds young entrepreneurs to skip or defer college — Resnick founded Brinc in 2017 and not long afterward garnered interest from then-OpenAI founder Sam Altman, who ultimately served as one of Brinc’s first seed investors. Since then, Brinc has enjoyed a number of funding rounds and, as of its last, was valued at nearly half a billion dollars, Resnick tells me. Brinc launched its newest product on Tuesday, a new public safety drone called Guardian that Resnick says is “the closest thing to a police helicopter replacement that the drone industry has ever produced.” Brinc claims it is the world’s “most capable 9-11 response drone” ever. Guardian certainly comes with some formidable specs and capabilities. The drone can fly at speeds of up to 60 mph and can endure a 62-minute flight time, its creator says. It also comes equipped with thermal imaging cameras, as well as two additional 4K cameras—all of which have zoom capabilities. “Even from significant altitude, a police department could read, like, license plate details,” Resnick tells me. Additionally, there’s a spotlight, and a loud speaker with more volume than a police siren. The drone’s landing station (which Brinc calls a “charging nest”) offers fully automated b...