ZenaTech expands into Australia with drone-as-a-service acquisition of land surveyor

ZenaTech, the Nasdaq-listed drone-as-a-service operator, has signed a binding agreement to acquire a 35-year-old Brisbane-headquartered land surveying and spatial services firm, the company said, in what is its first major Australian deal and its 22nd DaaS acquisition globally. Terms were not disclosed.

The acquired business runs three Queensland offices, in Brisbane, Gladstone and the Sunshine Coast, and serves government, public works, infrastructure and commercial clients with surveying, geospatial mapping and LiDAR data capture. ZenaTech plans to fold the operation into its DaaS network, which it markets as a way for clients to commission drone-collected data without owning hardware or training pilot crews.

“Australia represents a strategically important market itself with strong long-term demand across infrastructure, public works, and resource-driven industries,” ZenaTech chief executive Shaun Passley said. The deal “supports our long-term vision of building a scalable AI autonomy platform through DaaS, digitising and improving legacy services,” Passley said in the same statement.

The Australian deal lands as ZenaTech’s growth numbers roll in. The company posted full-year 2025 revenue of C$12.9 million, up 558 per cent on the prior year, with C$10.1 million coming from the DaaS segment in its first full year of operation. Cash and reserves closed the year at C$15.1 million, a 301 per cent rise. Working capital reached C$18.3 million. The 2025 cohort of 20 acquisitions left ZenaTech with 24 DaaS locations heading into 2026.

ZenaTech (Nasdaq: ZENA, FSE: 49Q, BMV: ZENA) traded at $US2.13 in pre-market on Thursday, up 1.43 per cent, ahead of a 52-week low of $US1.91. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and the company has not given a closing timetable.

The acquisition fits a pattern across Australian engineering services. Mid-sized surveying and spatial businesses, many of them family-run with three-decade backbooks of government contracts, have either consolidated with bigger domestic players such as Aurecon and SMEC, or sold to offshore tech-enabled platforms looking for an Australian foothold. ZenaTech sits in the second camp.

The acquired firm brings ZenaTech a client list and project archive built up over 35 years of state and council surveying work, which the buyer plans to layer drone capture and AI analytics on top of. ZenaTech has run the same playbook in 21 other markets, with the goal of converting one-off survey jobs into recurring DaaS contracts.

Queensland’s geography fits the model. The state’s mining corridors west of Mackay, gas-pipeline rights of way in the Surat Basin, and coastal infrastructure rebuilds since the 2024-25 floods all generate repeated geospatial work where a subscription DaaS arrangement is cheaper than retendering each time.

The deal is ZenaTech’s second Asia-Pacific move in 12 months and gives the company a Brisbane base from which to bid on Queensland government tenders. The next test for the buyer is whether it can convert the acquired firm’s existing client roster onto a DaaS subscription model, rather than continuing the project-by-project surveying work that has paid the bills for 35 years.