The drone cluster around Zurich continues to grow. Chinese manufacturer EWATT has now established its European headquarters in Zurich, as was reported in a press release. From these offices, the company will manage investment outside China and coordinate its international research and development (R&D) activities. Zurich will also serve as a base for EWATT in marketing its products and collaborating with distributors and service providers. “We are very happy that our Zurich office has opened,” commented Victor Paciura, Overseas Sales Director at EWATT. The company has consistently launched ambitious development programmes from its European research centres, which is why it became necessary to also have official headquarters here. Zurich was chosen because it boasts an impressive pool of talented experts as well as a very open environment for international business activities.
According to Victor Paciura, the preparations for the European headquarters took nearly one year. The technical department is currently being established in Zurich: “We are happy that we are finally in a position to start hiring.” The aim is to expand drone performance so that it can integrate 3rd party payloads and other modules onto the aircraft EWATT is developing in their European R&D offices.
At the inauguration ceremony, EWATT founder and CEO Darren Zhao emphasised the importance of collaboration between companies in the industry. “The market for civilian UAVs is very complicated and is also currently is undergoing major changes,” said Darren Zhao. “Only by establishing successful co-operation and enabling one another will drone companies and drone technology providers be able to survive and thrive.” Over the next few years, EWATT intends to focus on surveillance and transport drones, including for use in agriculture, for example.
EWATT was founded in Wuhan, China, in 2010. According to information on its website, the company employs more than 300 people, including more than 80 R&D and technical support engineers in Chinese HQ, and two R&D centres located in Italy.
