Strategic Ventures Impact Insights: August 2026 (Volume 4, Number 8)

"It's just like war: you're putting yourself in harm's way every minute you're out there."

For the more than 230,000 electrical power and telecommunications lineworkers across the U.S., that's not an exaggeration; it's the job. Roughly 25 lineworkers die on the job every year, and the occupation's fatality rate runs about four times the national average, driven largely by electrocution, falls, and transportation incidents.

Strategic Ventures is pleased to welcome Linebird to our portfolio. The company has built a patented, drone-agnostic platform that lets utilities' existing enterprise drone fleets safely perform direct-contact work on energized lines, moving dangerous, hands-on maintenance to the ground, without replacing a single piece of equipment utilities already own.

To read more, click here.

Michael Beiro, President and Co-Founder of Linebird

Michael Beiro, Founder and CEO of Linebird, is helping utilities rethink one of the industry's most dangerous jobs by developing technology that keeps lineworkers safer while improving how critical infrastructure is maintained. By equipping industrial drones with patented non-conductive payloads, Linebird enables live-line measurements, debris removal, and conductor cutting, all while reducing worker exposure to energized infrastructure.

The idea began with a challenge from one of the largest electric utilities in the US and has since grown into the Osprey Non-conductive Payload System, now serving utilities across North America, Europe, and Oceania.

To read more, click here.