Drone delivery infrastructure company Valqari said on October 1, 2026 that LexisNexis Intellectual Property Solutions has named it the third most innovative drone startup in the world, based on a global analysis of the patent portfolios of privately held drone companies.
What the ranking says
According to the announcement, LexisNexis scored each company with its Patent Asset Index, which the company said weighs portfolio size together with the technological value and geographic reach of each patented invention.
Valqari said it is one of only ten companies worldwide to make the list and that it ranks in the top three. The Chicago-area company describes itself as pioneering fully autonomous drone delivery infrastructure.
How the analysis was done
LexisNexis Intellectual Property Solutions analyzed flying drone companies using its LexisNexis PatentSight+ business intelligence platform, according to the methodology section of the release. The analysis used a custom patent screen measuring the Patent Asset Index across key IPC and CPC fields covering flying drone innovation.
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, and each company needed a portfolio of at least five patent families in the relevant classification fields.
Governments, government-controlled entities, patent aggregation firms and academic institutions did not qualify, the release said. Candidate companies were identified from their patent assets in relevant technology areas and through research across public news and information sources.
Valqari's patent portfolio
The company said its portfolio covers the full drone delivery process, including 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.
Valqari said it holds more than 75 granted patents worldwide, with coverage across the U.S., U.K., Europe, China, Australia, South Africa and other markets, and that it expanded the portfolio in 2025 by acquiring the Skydrop (formerly Flirtey) intellectual property. The company also cited over 1,190 granted claims and more than 750 forward citations.
Valqari said the recognition comes as an imminent FAA regulations release will see demand grow for secure, autonomous delivery in healthcare, emergency response, defense and commerce. The release does not give a date for that regulatory action.
What the companies say
"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," said Marco Richter, Managing Director and Chief Commercial Officer for LexisNexis Intellectual Property Solutions.
Ryan Walsh, CEO and Co-Founder of Valqari, said: "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."
Valqari, founded in 2017, said its 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.
Key facts and where they come from
- LexisNexis named Valqari the third most innovative drone startup in the world.
has been named the third most innovative drone startup in the world by LexisNexis® Intellectual Property Solutions
- The ranking is based on the Patent Asset Index applied to 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.
- Only ten companies worldwide made the list.
Valqari is one of only ten companies worldwide to make the list, and it ranks in the top three.
- Valqari says it holds more than 75 granted patents worldwide.
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.
- Valqari acquired the Skydrop (formerly Flirtey) IP in 2025.
In 2025, Valqari expanded the portfolio by acquiring the Skydrop (formerly Flirtey) intellectual property.
- Eligibility required companies to be privately held as of September 1, 2026 and to have demonstrated a flying drone.
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.
- Passenger eVTOL makers were excluded from the analysis.
Companies building eVTOL aircraft for passengers did not qualify.
- The analysis used the PatentSight+ platform with IPC and CPC screens.
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
Read the original from Company press releases (PR Newswire) →