# Nicholas Horbaczewski

> Nicholas Horbaczewski founded the Drone Racing League in 2015 after senior roles at Tough Mudder and ADS. His background combines business, independent film and drone technology. He helped turn grassroots FPV racing into a televised professional competition and is a co-founder and board member of Performance Drone Works (PDW).

- **Role:** Co-founder and board member at Performance Drone Works (PDW)
- **Organizations:** The Drone Racing League, Performance Drone Works (PDW), Tough Mudder, ADS, Inc., Leeden Media, Bain & Company
- **Education:** A.B., History and Literature, Harvard University, M.B.A., Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Founded the Drone Racing League in 2015 and led its development into an international televised competition., Helped assemble a league with proprietary racing aircraft, radio systems and timing and scoring technology., DRL signed a multiyear Allianz title sponsorship in 2017.

## Career timeline

- **2003** — Completed undergraduate studies in history and literature at Harvard.
- **2008** — Completed an MBA at Harvard Business School.
- **Before 2013** — Earlier career included Bain & Company, a chief information officer role at ADS and co-founding independent-film company Leeden Media.
- **2013–2015** — Held senior revenue and business-development roles at Tough Mudder, including chief revenue officer.
- **2015** — Founded the Drone Racing League after Ryan Gury introduced him to grassroots FPV racing on Long Island.
- **2016** — DRL publicly launched in January; its first season reached television through ESPN, Sky Sports and ProSiebenSat.1.
- **2017** — DRL secured Allianz title sponsorship and its engineering team set a Guinness quadcopter speed record.
- **2019** — DRL expanded distribution to NBC and Twitter and developed the AIRR autonomous racing competition with Lockheed Martin.
- **2024** — Infinite Reality announced a definitive agreement to acquire DRL for $250 million. PDW identified Horbaczewski as a co-founder and director in public material.
- **2026** — An April SEC filing and PDW leadership page confirm his continuing board role at PDW.

## Achievements

- Founded the Drone Racing League in 2015 and led its development into an international televised competition.
- Helped assemble a league with proprietary racing aircraft, radio systems and timing and scoring technology.
- DRL signed a multiyear Allianz title sponsorship in 2017.
- DRL engineering team, led by Ryan Gury, achieved a Guinness quadcopter speed record in July 2017.
- Co-founded Performance Drone Works and serves on its board.
- Entrepreneur magazine recognized him among its 50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs in 2017; his public profile also lists an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year finalist recognition in 2020.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — PDW, where he is a co-founder and board member, announced engineering expansion in Denver and Boston; the Boston opening was scheduled for October.
- **2026-07** — PDW announced a conditional loan commitment of up to $820 million from the Office of Strategic Capital for domestic component manufacturing, subject to further requirements before financial close.
- **2026-04** — PDW Holdings’ SEC Form D/A dated April 1 identifies Nicholas Horbaczewski as a director.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholashorbaczewski
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/NicholasDRL

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/nicholas-horbaczewski
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26