Photo credit: PR – Ehang Ghost drone

Ehang, the Chinese startup that claims to make the world's easiest-to-fly personal drone, announced today it secured US$10 million in series A funding led by GGV Capital. Angel investors Xu Xiaoping and Nick Yang and early stage fund PreAngel also participated.

Ehang's flagship quadcopter, the Ghost Drone, has raised about US$644,000 on Indiegogo as of press time, with 11 days remaining in its campaign. The US$100,000 goal was surpassed within 24 hours of launching the project.

Ghost also raised RMB 317,000 (US$52,000) on Chinese crowdfunding site Demohour in May, after which it shipped about 200 early-stage models.

Up next, less-easy-to-fly drones

Ghost was designed as an aerial photography drone outfitted with a GoPro and controlled using a smartphone app. The pilot can use GPS and maps to make the drone lift off, set the elevation, and head toward a destination up to one kilometer away. A small antennae, connected to the phone via Bluetooth, transmits commands.

Thanks to the success of its Indiegogo campaign, Ghost also plans to ship with tilt controls, in which the user can manually pilot the quadcopter by tilting and turning their phone. Ehang is also working on autofollow mode, so that Ghost will follow and film whomever is holding the transmitter automatically.

Athletes who enjoy adveture sports like skiing and hiking make up the primary demographic.

The money from this latest investment and the Indiegogo campaign will go toward expanding the team and ramping up manufacturing.

The future looks bright for drone startups. The Teal Group projects spending on unmanned aerial vehicles will double from US$2.8 billion this year to US$5.6 billion in 2023.

GGV Capital earlier this year closed its fifth fund worth US$620 million, bringing its total capital under management to US$2.2 billion. Spread across China and the US, its China portfolio includes Alibaba, Qunar, and Youku, while in the US it has invested in Flipboard, Pandora, Soundcloud, and Square.