ZenaTech recently completed its acquisition of Ketchum, Idaho-based Benchmark Partners, which operates as Galena-Benchmark Engineering. The deal represents ZenaTech’s 27th Drone as a Service acquisition and its first location in Idaho, giving the company another established professional services business through which it can deploy its drone technology.
Galena-Benchmark is a civil engineering and land surveying firm with more than 30 years of experience providing civil engineering, land planning, surveying, and land information systems services. Its customers include municipalities, government agencies, construction companies, and builders across central and southern Idaho.
For ZenaTech, the acquisition fits into a broader strategy of buying established service businesses and then introducing drone-based tools that can make traditional surveying, inspection, and monitoring work faster and more data-driven.
Rather than building a Drone as a Service customer base entirely from scratch, ZenaTech is acquiring businesses that already have customers, revenue, local expertise, and long-standing relationships. It can then introduce its ZenaDrone technology and subscription-based drone services into those existing operations.
Galena-Benchmark gives ZenaTech an immediate foothold in Idaho, which becomes the 13th U.S. state in its Drone as a Service network. The company sees opportunities in the state’s construction, agriculture, infrastructure, and public-sector markets.
ZenaTech plans to initially introduce drone-based land surveying and 3D construction monitoring through its ZenaWorx platform. Over time, the company sees opportunities to expand into precision agriculture, forestry and land management, utility inspections, wildfire mitigation, and environmental monitoring.
The acquisition is particularly relevant to ZenaTech’s strategy because surveying and civil engineering are natural use cases for commercial drones. Drones can capture aerial imagery and geospatial data across large areas without requiring crews to physically survey every location, while 3D mapping can give construction and infrastructure customers more frequent visibility into project progress.
That means ZenaTech may be able to use Galena-Benchmark’s existing relationships to introduce additional technology-enabled services while increasing the amount of recurring work performed for each customer.
The strategy could also help ZenaTech build local operational density. Instead of operating a centralized national drone business, the company is assembling a network of established regional service companies that understand local customers, regulations, terrain, and industries.
ZenaTech’s Drone as a Service model provides customers with on-demand and subscription-based drone services without requiring them to buy, operate, and maintain commercial drone fleets themselves. Services currently include surveying, inspections, maintenance, power washing, and precision agriculture.
Ultimately, ZenaTech appears to be buying Galena-Benchmark for more than its traditional engineering and surveying revenue. The company gains an established Idaho customer base and local operating platform that it can use to introduce additional drone-based services, creating another building block in its acquisition-led national DaaS network.
KEY QUOTES:
“This acquisition expands our Drone as a Service footprint into Idaho, our 13th U.S. state, establishing a strong presence in a market supported by growing construction, agriculture, infrastructure and public sector demand.”
“With more than 30 years of trusted customer relationships and an established reputation across central and southern Idaho, Galena-Benchmark provides an ideal platform for our acquisition and expansion strategy. We see significant opportunities to broaden its service offerings through drone-enabled surveying, environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, forestry and wildfire management, and utility inspections, creating new recurring revenue opportunities while delivering greater efficiency and value to customers.”
Shaun Passley, Ph.D., CEO of ZenaTech
