After undergoing a rebranding effort, Poladrone Solutions Sdn. Bhd. (Poladrone) is now known as Aonic.
“Our rebranding exercise demonstrates our commitment to our clients and customer base to provide them with a holistic ecosystem beyond our core drone capabilities, so that we can serve them better,” says Cheong Jin Xi, founder and CEO of Poladrone.
Cheong established Poladrone in 2016 as a drone company to provide services related to automation and analytics to clients across various industries. Having established the widest agriculture drone service centre network in Malaysia, the company expanded beyond drones into other solutions (e.g. survey equipment & solutions).
“We chose the word ‘Aonic’ for its association with the term ‘aeonic’, which means lasting for an aeon,” Cheong states. Aonic is also a near-anagram for ‘action’.
“Through our multiple verticals and over the years, we realised our customers’ needs are ever-evolving, expanding beyond drone-related services. Our aim is for our clients to associate Aonic with never-ending action; always adding on new and innovative capabilities in what we deliver to our clients,” he adds.
The corporation used the occasion to introduce its fifth vertical in the retail industry, joining its current four verticals in Agriculture, Enterprise (formerly industrial), Services, and Academy.
In Southeast Asia, Aonic Agriculture was a pioneer in point-to-point agricultural spraying technologies. Its in-house built and produced Oryctes & Mist Drone autonomous agriculture drones help the farming community manage farms and plantations efficiently. Oil palm plantation owners can receive advice and suggestions for preventive measures from Aonic Agriculture, which collects data using drones. Aonic Agriculture also offers funding through its AonicFlex programme to lessen the entrance barrier for farmers to deploy agricultural drones.
Aonic Industrial offers a variety of enterprise drone products for commercial use, increasing cost and time efficiency in daily operational workflows. It collaborates with international brands like DJI Enterprise (for whom it is the only Gold dealer in the nation), Emlid, FLIR, Sentera, and Micasense, among others.
Aonic Services is an expert in aerial surveying and mapping. Aonic Services has mapped and analysed more than 1.2 million hectares of agricultural land as a result of the in-house created AI algorithms from Aonic Agriculture and as a demonstration of synergy across the multiple verticals. Additionally, it offers complete solutions for things like crop health detection and thermal and visual inspection.
Through the new Retail vertical, potential customers and clients will be able to buy drones and replacement parts from eCommerce websites, Aonic’s own Web shop, as well as physical service locations in various agricultural towns across the nation and in Thailand. These facilities will also offer post-purchase assistance, servicing, and upkeep. In order to accelerate the use of drone technology, the Service Centers will also serve as Centers of Excellence where business training and information sharing will be done.
About Aonic (previously Poladrone)
Founded in 2016, Poladrone is an all-in-one drone solutions provider that simplifies dangerous and demanding tasks across a range of industries through innovative and cost-efficient applications of autonomous drone technology. Based in Malaysia and Thailand, Poladrone offerings cut across various verticals.
