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Danny Ellis

C.E.O, Founder at SkySpecs

Danny Ellis is the CEO and co-founder of SkySpecs, a company that specializes in renewable energy asset management using drone technology and software automation.15 He holds both a BSE and MSE in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan.35

Ellis co-founded SkySpecs in 2012 with Tom Brady, whom he met during a summer aerospace engineering internship in 2008.1 The company initially focused on using autonomous drones for wind turbine blade inspections, significantly reducing inspection times from over 4 hours to just 15 minutes.1

Under Ellis's leadership, SkySpecs has grown significantly:

  • The company now employs over 250 people worldwide, with offices in multiple countries including the US, Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, UK, India, and Austria.45
  • SkySpecs has inspected over 600,000 wind turbine blades in 31 countries.1
  • The company has raised over $120 million in funding across various rounds.45

Ellis has received several accolades for his entrepreneurial achievements:

  • Forbes "30 under 30" award in 201615
  • Crain's Detroit "40 Under 40" award in 202125
  • EY Entrepreneur of the Year for the Michigan/Ohio region in 202315
  • Michigan Venture Capital Association's Michigan Entrepreneur of the Year award in 202315

Ellis is also an Endeavor Entrepreneur, selected in 2017, and a Techstars alum.13 He resides in Ann Arbor with his family.3

Highlights

Aug 15 · linkedin

Emily Heintz, Lauren Sheridan, and I got to hang out with Gretchen Whitmer yesterday at Camp Grayling JMTC!

I had the privilege of talking about SkySpecs and the tremendous growth of the #windindustry with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Michigan has a long history of amazing engineering talent, skilled trades talent, and strong manufacturing roots which was a great launching point for SkySpecs over a decade ago. It was exciting to catch her up on our growth, work we are doing on six continents, as well as chat about #cleanenergy, the #windindustry, and #MichiganInnovation more broadly. We are looking forward to Michigan working to solve some of the toughest challenges in the clean energy and electrification transition.

May 12 · linkedin

I am so proud of the entire team at SkySpecs! We just closed an $80 million round of financing led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management! The round was followed on by NextEra Energy Resources and our existing investors at Statkraft, Equinor, Evergy, and Huron River Ventures . With this capital, SkySpecs is going to continue to take renewable energy asset management to new heights. We are honored to be working with these amazing partners and welcome Vikas Agrawal, Tanner Mahoney , Ji (Kyi) T. , Rich Katz , Brian Curtis, and Bala Nagarajan to the team. I also want to thank some of the investors that have supported us along this long journey: McRock Capital, UL , Capital Midwest Fund , Endeavor Catalyst, Venture Investors, Amherst , Invest Michigan , and many angels, family, & friends. I cannot wait to see what our team is going to do next to help make renewable energy a long-lasting, most affordable form of electricity to help the planet.

https://lnkd.in/gHaCdB_c

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Related Questions

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Danny Ellis
Danny Ellis, photo 1
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Location

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States