LexisNexis Names Valqari the No. 3 Most Innovative Drone Startup in the World

Global patent analysis ranks Valqari's drone delivery infrastructure portfolio among the ten strongest held by private drone startups

CHICAGO, Oct. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Valqari, the company pioneering fully autonomous drone delivery infrastructure, has been named the third most innovative drone startup in the world by LexisNexis® Intellectual Property Solutions. The ranking comes from a global analysis of the patent portfolios of privately held drone companies. LexisNexis scored each company with its Patent Asset Index™, which weighs portfolio size together with the technological value and geographic reach of each patented invention.

Valqari is one of only ten companies worldwide to make the list, and it ranks in the top three. The result reflects nearly a decade of work building the technology the drone industry needs to scale safely: secure, standardized, fully automated places for drones to land, especially to send and receive packages.

"In a space that is moving as quickly as drone development, it can be tough to tell who is leading the innovation race," said Marco Richter, Managing Director and Chief Commercial Officer for LexisNexis Intellectual Property Solutions. "Patent portfolios pull back the curtain to show a company's actual intellectual property assets, which provide the foundation for its future growth and market leadership. By applying the Patent Asset Index, we can objectively highlight the drone startups whose patent assets are helping shape the future of this dynamic industry."

"The drone industry has spent years proving that aircraft can fly packages. The harder problem is what happens on the ground. That means a secure handoff, chain of custody, and a network that works with any drone," said Ryan Walsh, CEO and Co-Founder of Valqari. "We built our product and patent portfolio to solve that problem. Being ranked No. 3 in the world by LexisNexis, on objective data, confirms that Valqari's technology is foundational to how drones will work at scale. It's also a testament to our team, who has been building toward this since 2017."

Valqari's portfolio covers the full drone delivery process. It includes the patented Drone Delivery Station, secure vault and payload-protection systems, automated drone loading and outbound package deployment, parachutes, winches, and the AI-enabled software network that connects it all. The company holds more than 75 granted patents worldwide, with coverage across the U.S., U.K., Europe, China, Australia, South Africa, and other markets. In 2025, Valqari expanded the portfolio by acquiring the Skydrop (formerly Flirtey) intellectual property.  Over 1,190 granted claims stake out the territory. More than 750 forward citations prove the industry is following. Valqari isn't just keeping pace with drone innovation; it's setting the course.

The recognition comes as an imminent FAA regulations release will see demand soar for secure, autonomous delivery in healthcare, emergency response, defense, and commerce. In these settings, protecting the payload and proving chain of custody matter as much as speed.

Methodology
 LexisNexis Intellectual Property Solutions analyzed flying drone companies using its LexisNexis PatentSight+ business intelligence platform. The platform assessed the strength and quality of each company's patent assets, as measured by the Patent Asset Index. The analysis used a custom patent screen that measured the Patent Asset Index across key IPC (International Patent Classification) and CPC (Cooperative Patent Classification) fields covering flying drone innovation.

Flying drone companies were identified for inclusion from their patent assets in relevant technology areas and through research across public news and information sources. To be eligible, a company had to be founded in the last 15 years, be privately held as of September 1, 2026, and have built and demonstrated a flying drone. Companies building eVTOL aircraft for passengers did not qualify. Each company also needed a portfolio of at least five patent families in the relevant IPC or CPC fields. Governments, government-controlled entities, patent aggregation firms, and academic institutions did not qualify.

About Valqari
 Founded in 2017 and based in the Chicago area, Valqari is pioneering fully autonomous drone delivery infrastructure. Its patented Drone Delivery Station and AI-enabled software network form an open-architecture, end-to-end system that any drone can use to send and receive packages with no human handling. Every delivery has a secure chain of custody, and payloads stay protected in a locked vault from drop-off to pickup. The system supports healthcare logistics, emergency response, defense, and last-mile commerce. Valqari holds more than 75 granted patents worldwide and was named the world's No. 3 most innovative drone startup by LexisNexis Intellectual Property Solutions. Its other honors include the 1871 Momentum Award, the Chicago Innovation Award, and recognition as one of Tech in Motion's Best Tech Startups in North America. Learn more at www.valqari.com.

Media Contact
Matthew Hook | Valqari | [email protected] | 630.205.5023

SOURCE Valqari