Up Sonder - Press Room - Best Drone Rental Service

Press Room

About Up Sonder

Up is a peer-to-peer drone rental marketplace and Sonder is the bee that makes it possible.

Up Sonder is a marketplace for drones, where drone Providers can earn extra money from renting out their drone and/or service. Commercial industries and the general public nationwide can conveniently search for drone rentals and drone services from Providers in their area on the Up Sonder marketplace, all at an affordable price with seamless delivery options through UberRUSH and Postmates.

With Up Sonder, individuals like wedding photographers, real estate agents, travelers, insurance companies, even farmers and urban planners, are able to access the Up Sonder marketplace to find and rent a drone near them or on the go. Sign up is simple.

Drone Providers: Create a free account and list drones or services for rent on their own terms.
Drone Renters: Create a free account and rent drones or services in their area.

Up Sonder builds trust with their Provider Guarantee that protects Providers from damages or losses. With Up Sonder, drone Providers can easily accept and manage bookings from within the platform. They can also access payments, scheduling, inventory management, customer messaging, and sales through the online portal. Drone Renters can schedule and make their payments quickly through the platform. It’s easier than renting a car or booking a hotel room.

The Founders

The Diplomat

Derek Waleko, CEO

From senior advisor to the South Korean government to co-founder of a pioneering drone rental company, Derek Waleko has a rich business history. As a senior government advisor in charge of mergers and acquisitions at South Korea’s KOTRA agency he worked with many high technology companies pushing the limits in the aerospace industry. Today he works to push those limits further with the sharing economy and his love for all things drones. Outside his international work he has also served as President of Los Angeles’s Van Nuys Neighborhood Council and sat on the board of the Mayor’s Budget Advocate Committee, drafting recommendations to advise the Los Angeles Mayor on reducing the city’s deficit and increasing revenue. Derek attended Texas Tech University earning his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology and Chemistry and studied film in New York at New York Film Academy.

The Doctor

Dr. A. Isaac Nabors, COO

Dr. Nabors is a drone enthusiast with a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Sports and Health Sciences (Texas Tech University, 2004), a Master’s in Physical Therapy (Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, 2007) and a Doctorate of Science in Orthopaedic Manual Therapy with an emphasis in Applied Anatomy/Physiology and Biomechanics (2014). He is also a serial entrepreneur, operating several businesses including his physical therapy practice (Kinetic Physical Therapy), a concussion consultation company (AXIS PT Group), and a performance enhancement company (CrossX). Dr. Nabors is poised to bring a revolutionary concussion device and concussion protocol to market in the near future. He is also a real estate investor and auto dealer (AXIS Auto Group).

The Tech Nerd

Keith Smith, CTO

Keith is an avid fan of aviation, he owns and operates a homebuilt aircraft, and is passionate about bringing modern technology into the aviation arena. He has more than 20 years of professional software development experience. He developed cloud-based collaboration tools back in 2001, long before “cloud computing” was a recognized term. Smith also founded PilotEdge, a company which provides Air Traffic Control services for flight simulators. It is a client/server architecture being used by thousands of pilots across the country in a wide range of simulators, from laptops to multi-million dollar full motion flight simulators. Keith holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Information Systems from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.