Fotokite develops a safe, intelligent flying camera that anyone can deploy in under a minute. The core of the solution is a tethered drone. To use a tethered drone instead of remote controlled system has several advantages. The tether provides a safe, direct way to fly. The visible, load-bearing physical link allows clear visual accountability for bystanders and property owners. The tether is also used to supply power from the ground, allowing the Fotokite to fly for hours. Last but not least the system is operational in seconds.

The first users of the tethered drone are journalists. A short interview with Fotokite founder Sergei Lupashin can be found on the website of Swissnex San Francisco.

Fotokite has won the Qualcomm QPrize yesterday. QPrize is Qualcomm Ventures’ seed investment competition. It’s designed to provide entrepreneurs their first level of funding so they can launch their idea into a successful start-up business. The goal is to have QPrize act as a catalyst for the winners, providing the initial capital to launch their great ideas and support the company to its first institutional funding round. Since 2009, QPrize has encountered ideas and founders. Past QPrize winners have gone on to raise a total of $239M.

Qualcomm Ventures is the investment arm of Qualcomm Inc., a Fortune 500 company with operations across the globe. Qualcomm is a world leader in 3G and next-generation mobile technologies.