How the Community Built LayerDrone in 2025

LayerDrone launched in 2025 as the world’s first autonomous aerial data network, powered by pilots and supported by an engaged global community. While pilots flew the missions that mapped millions of acres, the broader LayerDrone community completed quests, created content, and spread the word about what we're building together.

We've already shared what the LayerDrone Foundation achieved and what pilots accomplished in 2025. Now here's everything the LayerDrone community contributed this year.

Over 40,000 people have helped build LayerDrone

The LayerDrone community extends far beyond just pilots flying missions. Whenever a community member engages—whether completing a quest, referring a friend, or providing support in the community Discord—they earn Experience Points (XP) that track their contribution to the network. Here's what the XP tell us about the LayerDrone community in 2025:

• 40,000+ community members earned XP
• 11,000+ active community members in the Discord
• 122,194 quests completed by the community

These numbers reflect an engaged community that continues to show up, week after week, to help build the world’s largest standardized drone network.

Pilots and non-pilots lead the LayerDrone community

What makes the LayerDrone community unique is the diversity of contribution types. Both pilots and non-pilots can earn XP for helping to build LayerDrone, with tens of thousands of community members holding XP. 

• 1,000+ members earned 100+ XP, showcasing the most active segment of the community 
• 91 members earned 1,000+ XP, representing the most dedicated community builders
• 71 members earned 5,000+ XP, demonstrating exceptional commitment
• 15 community members earned 10,000+ XP, leading the community as ambassadors
• The top community contributor earned 14,255 XP through consistent and high-quality leadership in the community; they participated in every campaign, regularly answered questions from new community members, and they regularly shared the latest from LayerDrone on social media. 

While pilots logged missions in the field, community members amplified the network's reach through social engagement, content creation, and grassroots growth initiatives. Roughly half of community growth came from referrals and organic word-of-mouth, while the other half came from structured campaigns and quest completion.

In 2025, the community shared drone gear, footage, memes, and more

Throughout 2025, LayerDrone ran campaigns that invited members to showcase their creativity, personality, and technical setups.

In June, pilots shared iconic shots of their favourite cities 

THIS IS MY CITY encourages pilots to map their hometowns and showcase local landmarks from a new perspective, highlighting LayerDrone's geographic diversity and demonstrating how aerial intelligence can tell the story of a place.

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In July, pilots showcased their drone gear

THIS IS MY SETUP invited pilots to share their complete drone configurations, from aircraft to accessories. The winners showcased compact travel rigs, professional studio setups, and an otherwise inspiring range of drone-related devices. 

In August, the community created drone memes

THIS IS MY MEME encouraged pilots and other community members to create original memes that captured the reality of drone operations. 

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In October, referrals were shared and teams were formed

THIS IS MY SQUAD celebrated the connections that make the network stronger, from local pilot groups to cross-border collaborations.

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These campaigns generated hundreds of submissions, thousands of social impressions, and created a content library that new members can explore to understand what LayerDrone community looks like in practice.

The top pilots who are also leading community members

There are 8,000+ active pilots earning Reputation Points and 40,000+ community members earning XP. At the overlap is a small but mighty group of community members who are both flying missions AND driving community engagement, serving as ambassadors who bridge the operational network with the real world.

This dual contribution model creates a flywheel: pilots who engage in community activities bring field expertise to conversations, while active community members who become pilots bring marketing momentum to network growth.

The LayerDrone community in 2026

With over 40,000 community members, 1.4M XP awarded, and a culture of creativity established through campaigns, 2025 proved that LayerDrone's community model works. The numbers showcase the quests completed, the XP earned, and the referrals made. They don't capture the Discord conversations, pilot support threads, the troubleshooting sessions, or the genuine excitement people feel about building the future of aerial intelligence together.

As we move into 2026, the community is positioned for exponential growth. New campaigns are in development, the network is growing faster than ever, and the upcoming LayerDrone token will unlock new ways for community contributions to be recognized and rewarded.

To every community member who completed a quest, shared a post, welcomed a new pilot, created a meme, or helped someone else succeed: thank you for building LayerDrone with us.