Jonathan Downey is the Founder and former 6 year CEO of Airware, a San Francisco-based company that provides end-to-end drone solutions that enable enterprises to digitize their business and turn aerial data into actionable business intelligence. Airware’s customers include industry-leading Fortune 500 companies, such as State Farm. Airware’s commercial drone solutions for mining, quarrying, and construction sites are available through the global Caterpillar dealer network.

Jonathan is the General Partner for the Commercial Drone Fund, a fund launched to accelerate innovation in the commercial drone space. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), the largest unmanned systems organization in the world.

Jonathan has a passion for robotics and began working on the development of drone technology while pursuing his B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science at the MIT. After graduation, Jonathan joined Boeing as an engineer and contributed to the development and flight testing of the A160T Hummingbird, a 6,500 lb fully-autonomous helicopter, which broke the world record for longest helicopter flight and regularly flew within the National Airspace System (NAS).

Jonathan founded Airware in 2011 to eliminate the barriers preventing businesses from taking full advantage of drone technology. He has since led Airware to raise over $90 million to date from leading venture capital investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Next World Capital, and John Chambers, with strategic investments from enterprise customers and partners including Caterpillar Ventures, GE Ventures, Google Ventures, and Intel Capital. He was awarded USA Today's "Small-Business Innovator of the Year" in 2015 and MIT Tech Review's "35 Innovators Under 35" in 2016. He is an instrument-rated commercial multi-engine pilot with experience flying small singles up through twin turboprops.