Parrot’s Henri Seydoux to talk about the future of drones at Disrupt NY

Parrot has been a pioneer in the drone industry. The company started working on drones nearly ten years ago, before it was cool. That’s why we’re glad to announce that Parrot founder and CEO Henri Seydoux will join us on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt New York on May 9-11, 2016.

But it’s been a long and windy road for Seydoux. The company was founded in 1994 and started working on Bluetooth headsets and voice recognition software. The focus on drones came much later.

Parrot then started working on consumer drones. These drones are a great way to make money quickly as you can sell devices to enthusiasts who are willing to spend money for a few minutes of flying. It’s also a good way to evangelize people about drones, how they work and why they could be useful. The Parrot Disco is a good example of this strategy.

But there are dozens of cheap drone makers out there that are trying to undercut Parrot. Most of these companies started working on drones much later than Parrot, and it could make a big difference.

Parrot didn’t stop there. There are many not-so-futuristic applications for drones. Parrot is now also a big software and hardware maker when it comes to agriculture use cases for instance. And yet, it feels like we’re still at the very beginning of this revolution.

Finally, Parrot is also one of the leading hardware startups coming out of France. This year, French startups took over CES, and Parrot is one of the biggest French hardware startups. It’s going to be interesting to have Seydoux’s take on the French tech ecosystem and what makes it easier to build hardware startups in France.

Is Parrot is well-prepared to be at the forefront of the drone revolution? We’ll find out at Disrupt New York. Other speakers include Foursquare’s Dennis Crowley and Jeff Glueck, Fred Wilson, theSkimm’s Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg, Giphy’s Alex Chung, YouNow’s Adi Sideman and more.

Buy tickets to Disrupt here.

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