Aerones: Building the World’s Largest Wind Turbine Service Company

Kruse said that the company’s future plans are real, the main thing is to believe in what you are doing. “We need to stop whining. We need to stop telling the country that everything here is bad and we can’t and won’t do anything, and nothing will happen. We can, we can,” said the businessman.

Gundar Röder. Robots servicing wind turbines around the world. More than 50 million euros were obtained last year. The largest sum in Latvia and one of the top 20 European sums received by a start-up. How did you manage to convince investors to invest in a company that is not yet profitable?

Dainis Kruze: “Aerones” is a truly unique company. Who would have thought that the world’s most innovative, best robots for servicing wind turbines would be made in Latvia? We are unique because we have no competitors in the field of robotics. There are much bigger companies than us who also tried to develop robots for servicing wind turbines. Latvian engineers surpassed them. We made robots that currently work in more than 20 countries. We succeeded.

Do you currently have no competitors?

There are several companies trying to compete by developing a product similar to ours, but none have succeeded. Latvian engineers, Latvian people have succeeded and others have not. And that’s what sets us apart. We are unique and the market is huge.

How does working with robots actually work?

The blades of one wind turbine reach a length of 100 meters. Imagine yourself hanging from a string and sanding, painting and laminating it. The work is not only extremely dangerous, but also unproductive. All industries are robotic. The wind turbine industry was not like that. We were the first to be able to do these jobs with a robot.

However, in your first annual reports, in 2023 and 2024, there was no profit, but investors have believed you.

The market is huge. All our clients are multi-billion dollar companies, the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturers and energy conglomerates. They do not work only in France or only in Germany and Italy. If they move from human labor to robotization, you have to be able to provide that service globally. Our responsibility is to grow rapidly, to grow quickly, which also requires large financial resources.

That means you will earn when you are a big enough company?

Yes, it’s a business off scale. We have to be big to be profitable. We should stop, slow down development in the field of new products. If we were willing to grow by 10% a year, we could become profitable, but our ambitions are much bigger. Our opportunities are to grow by 30, 40, 50, maybe even 100% per year.

When “Aerones” was created, what was the idea? So what did you want to start?

The idea of Jānis Putrāms, co-founder of the company, was that there are many helicopters and there are many small drones in the air, but there should be something in between. We need high-powered drones that can deliver and do all sorts of jobs. Then I, Jānis Putrāms and Andris Dambis, decided to build such a drone. From 2015 to For 2017, we did it. This drone could lift 200 kg and was the most powerful drone in the world. But it was too early. The world did not yet understand our ideas. We wrote to America. We wrote to Germany. We were going to be a drone delivery company, but we didn’t get an answer because nothing like that existed yet. There was simply no such industry.

You filmed a video for a commercial where a person parachutes from your drone.

Yes, Ingus Augstkalns came up with this idea to jump with a parachute.

And this is proof that it can withstand at least a hundred kilograms?

Yes, and proof that it could be a transport for people in the future. This drone had 26 propeller motors. It was built so that if you hit any part with a hammer, he would still fly. But such industries did not exist and we did not learn to create a future for this invention. Then we went the other way. At that time, I told the Latvian Ministry of Defense that drones would change the course of the war. With these drones, we could deliver ammunition, rescue the wounded, and so on. The ministry said no at the time.

What year was it?

I think it was 2016/2017. year We were not heard, but we know where the war in Ukraine has gone now.

But in 2019, you participated in the program of the Ministry of Latvia, where you received a grant for the production of trailer equipment for this particular drone.

Yes, we even made a demonstration that drones could be the ones to lift the observation systems, we demonstrated it, but it did not give the desired result.

The project ended successfully, but the continuation did not follow. Why is that?

You cannot find good engineering solutions for 20,000 euros if you want to involve high-quality engineers and build such technology.

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, such a heavyweight drone is vitally needed. Are you ready to offer something like that? Have you been asked to?

During the second invasion, Jānis and I did a lot to help the Ukrainians, both with software and with drones, but unfortunately “Aerones” had already changed its direction to robots. We had several hundred employees and investments attracted by investors, with the idea of working in the service of wind turbines. We couldn’t go back into the drone industry. Unfortunately, but that’s how it was.

And how did you end up with wind turbines and robots?

It’s a story about how it takes you four years to find a real problem and market. In 2015, we built a drone and looked for a place to use it, but nothing came of it. Then Jānis came up with the idea of making a firefighting drone. We made it, but it required permits and pump systems to fly it in cities. And again, what is the market, where are we going to fit in? There was quite a sense of doom.

Literally at the last show in England where we demonstrated how our drone could fly and clear high-rise buildings, a man came up to us and said, “I’m a helicopter pilot, and I clean wind turbines off of it. You can do that with your drone.” We left the exhibition. We met with Jānis and realized that no one would be interested in flying permits if we do it in wind farms that are far away. We had found a field where we could operate, plus we would finally be allowed to fly and maybe someone would answer our emails. We started making a prototype that can wash the wings of a wind turbine.

Later, we discussed how difficult it is to paint these wings with a drone and Jānis offered solutions with ropes, where by placing three ropes, we keep the drone straight. We did it, but later he calls me and says: “Dain, we don’t need a drone. We’re going to put a robot instead, so we lose our flying permits.” It is December 2018.

The funniest fact in this whole story was that the company was on the verge of bankruptcy and the only salvation was the European co-financing worth two and a half million that we had obtained.

In January, it was necessary to sign a document on receiving a grant for a drone solution, washing and maintenance of wind turbines. We realized that we would not make the drone, but we still went to Spain to sign it.

I had never prepared a presentation with such care in my life. After signing the document, we asked for 15 minutes to present our idea. It was a presentation about how we get from drones to the idea of a robot. The entire two and a half million funding was for the drone. They asked us to leave. We came back in 15 minutes later and they say, “Please continue!” We asked – what does it mean? Do we need to write a new application? Their answer was no. They liked the new idea much better. And here I want to mention how well the bureaucratic issues were resolved. They gave us a grant and did the paperwork themselves.

The good example of bureaucracy?

Yes, this is a good example of bureaucracy. And they will have made that money back many times over.

Two and a half million then, another 30 million before that. This year, more than 50 million euros. Is your company now owned by a US company?

The US company is owned by both us, the employees and the investors. It’s not like the company is owned by any outsiders. In principle, the US company belongs to me, as well as to Jānis.

After the registration papers, we found several related persons. You and Jānis Putrāmas, then there is Andris Bērziņš, or the Latvian Foundation. The Latvian Fund was one of the first to invest?

The Latvian Fund was the first, and it is important to mention that it was the beginning of the covid era. We went from drones to robots. We built the first robot. We have our first pilot projects and customers. It was supposed to drive and demonstrate the robot, but covid came and all European pilot projects stopped in one day. At that moment, Andris had the opportunity to wait. Say we’ll wait. We were on the verge of bankruptcy again, but Andris said no, and invested funds so that we could move forward.

Nigel Klaus and Philip Gera – two more investors.

Nigel is from Lightrock. It is a foundation from Liechtenstein. They are based in London, but from the royal family of Liechtenstein, who are the main investors in this fund.

Philip Gera. Another investor.

Philip represents a multi-billion fund based in Germany. Now there are new investors. They come from America. The purpose of this round was to get an investor in America. We have a sufficient range of investors and help from Europe. We wanted American investors directly.

With such huge sums invested, there is an equally high risk of failure. How do you as founders retain control? What are the conditions that allow you to stay in control?

The idea of an investor is not to work alone. They invest in people who do. They invest in the belief that the company will succeed. The best manager is the person who created the company and is passionate about his idea.

Do you and Jānis have a control package?

We do not have a controlling interest, but we are on the board. We are in charge of the company. We run the company together with our management team. We are co-owners. The controlling stake is now owned by the investors.

The goal is to start earning?

Yes, after this investment, the target is that we should start making money within 18 months. The goal is to make a profit, but if the company is doing well and is successful and needs additional money for growth, then these large funds can provide it without looking for additional money. And this is the benefit of big funds and big partners.

When we called you at the end of last year, you were in the United States. I understand that there is currently an “Aerone” representative office in Texas.

We have had a representative office in Texas for three years. We operate in America and have over 100 employees there. We moved from smaller premises to three times the size because we are now growing rapidly in America.

Many companies do not emphasize where they come from, especially those that do not come from prestigious economies. Why has it been important for you to say that you are from Latvia?

It sounds cliché, but Jānis and I are Latvian patriots. I am extremely proud that Latvian engineers developed this robot. We have so much to be proud of. Is Latvia perfect, fluffy, beautiful and everything is perfect? No. Is “Aerones” perfect, fluffy and beautiful? Not either. There are a million things that need to be taken care of that I know my heart aches for. Latvia is a good country, and I work, and my company, my colleagues, work so that Latvia is not only a good country, but also a great country, and we carry the name of Latvia in the world.

You have a big market in the US. Donald Trump’s administration has said more than once: “The greenback is bad for the economy. We’re going to change it.” There is also new news about the suspension of large wind farm projects. Does it somehow affect business development now?

Our business is to service existing wind farms.

How do you feel about the future?

When we started looking for funding and raised this 50 million euros, Trump announced that wind is the worst thing in the world and that he will destroy wind. The next day, after this announcement, we started going to investors and telling them how good the wind is. We changed the presentations, proving that there are enough wind farms to grow our business for the next 20 years.

Even if no new wind turbines are installed from tomorrow, we can still double our turnover and growth every year for the next 20 years.

The wind is absolutely green. The greenest energy in the world. No damage is done to nature. It is an electric motor that spins and produces electricity.

There are many arguments – yes, it is cheap, the infrastructure is expensive. Problems with disposal of turbine blades and so on.

Today, the blades are made of fiberglass and have carbon fibers inside. The life cycle of one wind turbine blade is twenty-five years. In addition, there are technologies that recycle and renew all new blades. Also, the evil of burying old shovels is much less than using fossil fuels.

There are still many discussions going on in Latvia. There are many arguments – subjective, objective, justified, unjustified. Political parties also say it is a gold rush with the gold dollar and nothing more. Your comments.

Whatever you do, someone is not going to like it. Once there was no wind turbine there and it feels like a skyscraper has been built now. And what will it look like now? I understand that. It will never be possible to please everyone. Believe me, “Aerones” also gets on the nerves of many people working in this field. We were also told that robots are evil and take jobs away from people. In fact, robots do work more efficiently, safer, faster. It allows you to get the job done instead of putting it off or not doing it at all. We could all avoid driving to work. I don’t like the sound of the highway. Maybe you could go on foot. If we look at the statistics, Latvia’s gross domestic product per capita is 23,000 euros. We are looking at Finland. Finland has the largest artillery in Europe. It has one of the largest military capabilities in Europe. Why is the gross domestic product per inhabitant twice as large – 50,000 euros. Finland has 2,000 turbines for a population of 6 million. We have 100 turbines. We should then have 20 times more turbines, at least grow ten times – up to 1000 turbines.

The question is where and how to build them? The Greens also say that they can build, but not in the forest.

Why not in the forest? Nobody lives in the forest. Our forests are less densely populated. There is so much land that is uninhabited that we won’t even know the wind turbines are there. Estonia has a smaller population but twice as many turbines. Three times more turbines in Lithuania. Latvia is in a unique situation. Sun in summer, wind in winter, hydroelectric power plants. We can be the first country in Europe to be completely green. Renewable resources and wind energy cost plus or minus twice as cheap as gas energy.

But the greens will say: “Just not at the expense of the environment.” What about bird migration routes and tree cutting?

Cats kill 90 times more birds than wind turbines. High-rises also kill. Birds run into them. But have wind turbines wiped out entire bird populations in Germany, Finland, Estonia and Lithuania? Somehow I have never heard that Lithuania was left without birds.

You say that Latvia is a wonderful place. We see our economic performance, and we also see the environmental performance of our startups. The latest figures are that our two neighboring countries are number one and number two in Eastern Europe. We are only fourth, but 49th in the world. Let’s just say, there is no place to fall below among the developed countries. Why is this so?

Exactly the same wind turbine story. While we think, debate and discuss, let’s find 100 reasons why not. We will search. We’ll focus on those 100 reasons why not. (..) Switching back to startups. It is exactly the same mentality that Latvians focus more on why no than yes. If you have an idea, if you want to do something, don’t listen to them, why not. Just find one “yes” and go ahead. There is a need to change the mentality. (..) Estonians got lucky with “Skype”. “Skype” stirred young people and motivated them to create startups. On the other hand, Lithuanians are simply different, they are a warlike nation. They go and do. Our mentality is always to look at what the Estonians are doing, what the Lithuanians are doing and somehow sneak up on them. This needs to be changed. I hope that “Aerones”, “Printify”, “Printful” and “Origin” will serve as an example that Latvia can also.

How many employees do you have? Where do they come from, how do you find them?

In total, we have around 200 employees in Latvia, of which around 100 are engaged in product development. These are programmers, electronics engineers, mechanical engineers. All this is in Riga, on Katlakalna street. Then we have a factory where we prototype the robots. We can quickly make what is only invented today – we can try it in a week. We have wind turbine blades hanging that we are testing the prototype on. We make robots here. We ship to America, to Europe, and we even have an academy here. This is also the case in America, where we train robot operators. We are the first in Latvia to train future robot operators.

We in the school system are robbing young people of a future opportunity to make products, to build new startups, because we have four literature classes and one math class.

A young person’s future is ruined already in elementary school, allowing them to choose the easy way out in the fifth grade. We don’t need to raise the level so that everyone is an Olympiad winner. Artificial intelligence will lower the bar with which you can develop a product. You will no longer need a mega smart programmer to program your idea. All over the world it will be easier to do it, but literati and graduates of literature classes will not do it.

You said in an interview that even if there is a wonderful, perfect engineer with the best brain, often he will do nothing and there will be no result. Why do you think so?

This is another question of mentality. Startup life is tough. We are not yet a profitable company, but about 3 to 5% of those who try survive to a profitable organization. It’s a tough road, but at the same time, when you realize that you’re building a product that’s being used by the biggest companies in the world, who have tried to make it themselves but haven’t been able to, and we’ve outcompeted them. I think it’s worth it.

If the big leading companies see that you are successful, are you ready to sell this business altogether at some point?

I think there are several ways. One is to go bankrupt, but we do everything we can to prevent that from happening. The other way is when you are bought by a bigger company. The third way is to build something bigger. It is my ambition to build the largest wind turbine service company in the world, which is an even bigger business than installing new turbines.

Is it realistic now?

Yes, of course. I have only one plan. The world’s largest wind turbine service company. Investors, of course, have some thoughts of their own if it doesn’t work out. I am going towards the big goal and my colleagues are also helping me.

The creator of the startup ranking has mentioned what are the two main challenges facing the entire industry right now. The first is artificial intelligence, which is coming and changing everything very rapidly. The second is the geopolitical situation of the world, which is moving in the direction from globalization to the creation of fragmented blocs. Do you see it now?

Of course it worries me. It may happen that America and Europe compete with each other.

What about China?

We haven’t gone all the way to the Chinese market yet. We have not even captured 1% of the American and European market. I won’t hide that I want to do it. I would like to enter the Chinese market. The first robots in China are in some factories. We are watching what is happening there out of the corner of our eye.

How does that go with America requiring your technology to be certified?

We carry out wind turbine inspections with self-built drones. Such things happen in business, you have to be ready for such developments. I do not believe that now America will completely stop cooperation with Europe. Therefore, we are also an American company with our branch there.

The Ministry of Economy and the government say they want to double Latvia’s economy.

Without energy independence, this will not be possible. If “Aerones” becomes a multibillion-dollar company within the next ten years, it will already have a very big impact on the Latvian economy.

Are the goals of the Ministry of Economy and the government currently achievable? And what would be your wish to raise Latvia’s economy to a new level?

You just have to believe and do. We need to stop whining. It is necessary to stop telling the country that everything is bad here and that we cannot and will not do anything, and nothing will happen.

We can, we can. “Aerones” is one small piece of evidence, but there are several other pieces of evidence