Irish drone delivery company Manna has secured a US $25 million (€20.7 million) investment as it looks to scale the business to operate in multiple markets by 2023. It was founded in 2018 and has developed aviation-grade drones that fly at 80km/h and are delivering groceries, takeaways and medicines, to homes within a three-kilometre radius in less than three minutes.
The company is making around 100 deliveries a day in its trial in Oranmore, Co Galway since last October and intends to expand to another Irish location soon.
Manna has already signed partnerships with a number of major brands and retailers including Tesco, Samsung and Just Eat. The new funds would be used to support preparation for new EU regulations expected to pass into law in two years’ time.
“From 2023 onwards, across Europe, we’ll be ready to enable businesses in suburban towns to have physical products delivered to customers from as far away as 50 square kilometres within three minutes,” he said. “Our biggest competition in drones is (Google parent) Alphabet and Amazon but this is a trillion-plus dollar opportunity so I’m happy to share the market with those two players.”
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