Five Questions With: Andy Trench

Andy Trench is CEO and founder of XactSense. His startup recently was named a MassChallenge Boston 2015 winner.  / COURTESY TWITTER
Andy Trench is CEO and founder of XactSense. His startup recently was named a MassChallenge Boston 2015 winner. / COURTESY TWITTER

Andy Trench, CEO and founder of XactSense, talks with Providence Business News about the Warwick startup and how it recently was named a MassChallenge Boston 2015 winner. The company, which employs three people, builds autonomous 3-D laser-scanning drones.

PBN: How did you get the idea for your business?

TRENCH: The idea for 3-D laser scanners on drones came from a passion in unmanned aircraft and a personal need for a solution to accurately measure hard-to-reach locations. I am an architect, designer (KylaCoburnDesigns), and am often faced with measuring and remodeling existing structures. I have also been building unmanned aircraft of all sizes and shapes for the past 15 years.

PBN: Congratulations on the MassChallenge win – how will you use the award money?
TRENCH:
The $50,000 award from MassChallenge will be used to bring our solutions to a bigger audience. This means more production and more resources to reach more customers. More important than the money itself is the validation in our mission. We were honored to be one of the 128 companies included in the 2015 class at MassChallenge cut from over 2,200 initial applicants. To be named a winning top company means we are on the right path and we are looking forward to a great 2016.

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PBN: Is the market for drones growing?
TRENCH:
The “drone” market is growing at a staggering rate. Not just the toy drones you will see under nearly every Christmas tree this year, but commercial, industrial and enterprise-specific unmanned aircraft are being put to work every day now, where you would have seen none only five years ago. We are creating a tool that can be used in a broad variety of industries and see amazing growth potential for XactSense in the years to come.

PBN: How has participating in MassChallenge’s accelerator program helped your business?
TRENCH:
We can’t praise MassChallenge and the staff there enough for what they do for companies like ours! It has been an unbelievable experience. Whether you are an MBA with seasoned business expertise or a garage-based startup with an idea to change the world, MassChallenge can help you navigate funding, business strategy and the ever-expanding startup landscape. During the program, you are introduced to and explore all aspects of growing a successful company. I have never felt more comfortable communicating my ideas, presenting XactSense to investors and moving forward with confidence that we are solving a real problem with real potential to make substantial profits.

PBN: Where do you see the company in five years?
TRENCH:
I see XactSense tools at work in every engineering, survey and architecture firm, both large and small. Drones are the obvious disruptive technology in this space, and we have an early lead being one of the first companies to fly this amazing new technology, and the first ever to create accurate 3D models with a laser scanner on a drone without the use of heavy and expensive IMU and GPS sensors. We are offering a solution that not only makes getting this type of data faster and less expensive, but also safer. While we develop systems to make drones easier to use, more autonomous, and collect more and better data, you will see less people climbing cell towers, dangling from ropes off wind turbines, or standing in traffic, with only the protection of an orange vest, slowly collecting 3D data. This is the era of the unmanned system, and XactSense is here to play.

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