XCraft Enterprises Inc., the Coeur d’Alene-based drone manufacturer, raised $1.1 million in angel funding in a campaign that closed early last month through the StartEngine crowdfunding platform. 

XCraft offers three kinds of drones and expects to release a new version of its Shadow drone late this summer. The Shadow is a four-rotor drone capable of 24-hour tethered flight. It’s listed on the XCraft website for $6,000.  

JD Claridge, president and CEO of XCraft, says about 40% of the newly raised funds are going toward maintaining operations, while 60% will go toward research, development, and launching new products, such as a successor to the Shadow drone.  

Claridge says crowdfunding enables any investors to buy equity in a company. Under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulation, a company can raise a maximum of $1.1 million through a single round of crowdfunding. 

XCraft had kept the StartEngine offering open for a year, he says. 

“One nice thing about going through StartEngine is that you can do rolling closes, so you can bring in money as it’s raised,” Claridge says. “We have been pulling out cash as (the campaign) went along to maintain operations and keep things rolling.”  

More than 2,300 people invested in the company through the StartEngine campaign, with an average investment of $425. 

“It’s actually our second raise (through crowdfunding),” Claridge says. “You can do one a year. We’ve successfully raised the maximum amount on both.” 

The drone manufacturer, which was founded in Sandpoint in 2013, got a major boost when it landed a $1.5 million cash infusion on the reality TV show Shark Tank in 2015. 

The next year, XCraft moved to Coeur d’Alene. XCraft has six employees and occupies a 2,700-square-foot space in the Innovation Collective, at 418 E. Lakeside.