Kevin Durant’s move to Golden State set him up for success beyond the court. It placed him within close proximity to Silicon Valley, where Durant is quickly advancing his investment portfolio. The Durant Company, has made about 30 investments to date and reportedly has added another: Skydio.
Skydio’s work centers around designing autonomous, AI-powered drones. It has essentially created a “visual cortex,” allowing a drone to maneuver based off its camera feeds which are run through computer vision algorithms. Long story short, there’s no need for a big, clunky joystick.
“At Skydio our fundamental goal is to deliver the power and magic of flying cameras without the complexity,” read a November 2016 Skydio blog post. “Current drones are cool gadgets for enthusiasts but still a curiosity to mainstream consumers. Our belief is that advanced onboard computer vision and artificial intelligence, combined with world class hardware product design, will yield a breakthrough that makes drones a trusted part of our daily lives.”
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The relationship between Skydio and Durant began with him asking for a demo from the founders at his Oakland home. Speaking with Fast Company, Skydio CEO Adam Bry said Durant understood the technology almost immediately. “In fact, I’d argue that he probably understood it better than a lot of other professional tech people.”
“Guys want to be a part of change, and I think that’s a great thing, to think outside of the basketball realm and try to impact some people’s lives in a different way,” said Durant during a September TechCrunch event while talking about investing.
Durant isn’t the only Warrior taking advantage of the Silicon Valley scene. Teammates Andre Iguodala and Stephen Curry are prominent tech investors as well.