Investors
Executive summary

We are proposing advanced search-and-rescue drones that locate people during avalanches. Since 2000, roughly 750 people have died due to avalanches, with an average of 25-30 people dying each year. Even at resorts, there are about 2 deaths a year. We think these deaths are unnecessary, especially given the technology at our disposal, so we wanted to address this problem. Our search-and-rescue drones are unmanned aerial quadcopters that incorporate technologies such as infrared imaging, Lidar mapping, and GPS-based positioning to locate skiers much faster than traditional methods. By using drones, we can drastically reduce search times, minimize risk for ski patrol and search-and-rescue teams, and, with faster locating, increase survival rates exponentially. Our target market includes ski resorts, law enforcement for search and rescue, and backcountry companies. We chose to target these markets because they are the people consistently affected when avalanches occur. These markets would not be shocked by and unable to adapt to this new technology, because it builds upon existing technology and methods.  At many ski resorts, sensors are already used as beacons, and law enforcement agencies use various types of drones in their rescue operations. The size of our target market is huge, with over 470-500 active ski resorts in the United States, as well as roughly 4,000 backcountry companies, all in the United States. If we then expand into the rest of the world, our target market will grow by almost 600%.  A ski resort or company that can guarantee higher safety levels than its competitors will have a market advantage. Skiers value safety extremely highly, even on the best powder days, so why would they risk their lives at a more unsafe resort? We conducted a survey of current skiers, asking whether they would prefer to ski at a resort with our technology or one without it. Every participant agreed they would prefer to visit the resort using our drone technology. In the early stages of our business, we plan to charge a one-time purchase of our drone to build up capital. After our product gets off the ground and gains some traction, we will switch to a subscription model to generate recurring income. If we decide to branch out to the rest of the world, having a subscription will yield us much more money, allowing us to expand the company into other drone-related fields.