GrepBeat last wrote about Windlift back in 2019 and followed up with a 2024 video interview. Windlift is a Durham-based startup designing tethered drones that serve as elevated platforms for a variety of sensors, and which can withstand high winds.
For this piece, we caught up with Founder and CEO Rob Creighton to learn more about him, Windlift’s competitive edges, and how the company has navigated challenging shifts in government priorities and funding.
GrepBeat: Before we get started, for readers who may not be familiar, what’s the elevator pitch for Windlift?
Rob Creighton: Windlift builds tethered drones that provide an elevated platform for cameras, radios, and other sensors. Our systems are designed to withstand high winds and being towed at fast speeds. We also build airborne power generators that charge batteries and electric grids on the ground.
GB: When we got in touch, we asked you to look back on the last time we checked in, via a 2024 video interview. When you listen back on where Windlift was during that conversation, what stands out as the biggest change?
Creighton: In 2024, our biggest customer was Operational Energy at The Pentagon. The new administration is less focused on energy scavenging and more focused on liquid fuel and nuclear solutions. Consequently we’ve pivoted to focus on the electronic warfare and sensing capabilities of our tethered drones, and expanded our sales and marketing to international customers.
GB: At some recent ecosystem events, you’ve discussed potential applications of Windlift’s technology in defense. Does this represent a new direction for the company?
Creighton: Not exactly a new direction, but a refocusing of our messaging and sales efforts. We have been working with the Electronic Warfare Division of the Naval Research Laboratory since 2019 and have received over $24 million in R&D funding in our history to develop Windlift tethered drone technology.
We were raising private capital for the commercial applications of our energy generation capabilities, but today we are focused on selling the C5ISR capabilities of our systems. We still plan to build airborne power generators for international customers, but U.S. federal funding for this work has been eliminated.
GB: How has your team grown or evolved since we last spoke?
Creighton: We downsized our team significantly when Congress didn’t pass a budget for FY’25 (still no budget for 2026). That was an extinction-level event for many small businesses that depend on congressional directed funding to push technologies through the “valley of death” to a program of record in acquisition. Today this can only be done with support from the White House.
GB: Have there been any recent milestones or accomplishments you’re particularly proud of?
Creighton: We demonstrated our G-Series platform in Finland in December. We achieved a 75mph towed flight, which is over twice as fast as our nearest competitor can be towed.
GB: You’ve been on the scene for a little while now. People may know you as a founder, but perhaps less so as a human being. Tell us something we don’t know about you that has nothing to do with your life as a founder.
Creighton: I have two amazing kids, 15 and 18, at Jordan High School and NC State [respectively], and I love spending time outside hiking, canoeing, and kiteboarding.
GB: What partners or organizations (service providers, advisors, investors, if any) have been most helpful to you?
Creighton: First Flight Venture Center has been a fantastic partner over the years. If you are working in DeepTech, I highly recommend the team there as your central hub in the Southeast for connecting with government, academia, investors, and corporate partners. They also have amazing educational programming and a great incubator.
Mike Ryan and the team at EDPNC have also been important resources for building our international business.
GB: What is your next, biggest challenge?
Creighton: Raising capital to grow our defense business in North Carolina. There is simply not enough risk capital in North Carolina to scale defense manufacturing businesses here and compete internationally. Without congressional directed funding or local capital sources, I will be forced to relocate my business.
Some businesses have been able to secure significant funding from the office of strategic capital, but that requires strong support from the White House.
GB: If you could go back in time to speak to yourself on the day you founded your startup, what advice would you give your younger self?
Creighton: Invest more in relationships than technology. Raising capital, making sales, sourcing technology, and hiring employees are much easier and more efficient if you continuously invest in your network. You have to give before you get, so it is also important to invest in mentoring, making introductions, and politics/academia. Yes, it will be very hard to balance the deployment of time and resources for this, but even with the best tech it will still be people who will be critical to your success.
GB: Finally, you finish a long, grueling day of starting up. You’re hungry and/or thirsty. Where in the Triangle are you headed?
Creighton: Weldon Mills Distillery in Downtown Durham, Ramblers, and Queeny’s are where I’m headed.
Editor’s note: For those interested, Creighton also mentioned that Windlift is actively raising on WeFunder.
