Posted by 5 Drone Delivery Startups
Drone delivery continues to expand. Drone delivery has been deployed commercially for the past two decades in peripheral roles. A decade ago, drone delivery began to trend as the future of delivery services for large retailers. Presently, tech giants like Amazon and Alphabet (Google’s parent company) are ready to launch the best drone delivery services for customers looking to purchase food, clothes, household appliances, etc. Amazon’s Amazon Prime Air is gearing up to deliver select Amazon items to customers from Lockeford, California, while Alphabet’s Wing has already drone-delivered thousands of items to its customers in three different continents. With such prominent businesses focusing on the market potential of drone delivery, it comes as no surprise that by 2026, the drone delivery market is forecasted to grow by $13.54 billion USD.
Future of Drone Delivery
So, what does this all mean for the future of drone delivery? Though there are already current applications of this shipping method, we see a lot of future potential because there’s so much more room for growth and innovation in the drone delivery market alone. Let’s go over three important points to look out for in the future of drone delivery.
- Drone delivery for large cities
With ecommerce growing exponentially over the past few years, it makes sense that retailers are looking for the most innovative and efficient method to get their products to their customers’ doorsteps. Drone delivery has proven to be one of the best and most inventive ways to achieve this. We’ve seen drone deliveries mainly take place in rural areas and not large, bustling cities due to no-fly zones, building infrastructure, etc., but what would it look like for this to change in the near future? Companies like Wing are already working on making drone delivery accessible to major cities, having delivered items to residents of Frisco, Texas, the state’s fastest growing city, for example.
- Drone delivery as a societal norm
The future of drone delivery is one where drones delivering everyday items to people’s front doors feels the same as how major retail delivery drivers or food delivery drivers currently drop off boxes to our doorsteps. Huge technological advancements that can change the way societies function take time, adaptation, and user buy-in. It is no longer odd to see an Amazon vehicle drive throughout our city, dropping off packages in record time; we expect drone delivery to head in that direction. It can become a norm for us to receive our packages via drones and we wouldn’t think twice about it in the future. And recently, the COVID-19 pandemic truly solidified how imperative it is for us to have no-contact delivery in our society. As a society, we are now familiar with no-contact delivery and sometimes even prefer it. Drone delivery can become our next societal norm for no-contact shipping services.
- Drone delivery for the environment
Drone delivery also offers a greener future for ecommerce. We know that now more than ever, consumers want to spend their money at businesses that are environmentally conscious, and companies are aware of this ongoing rise in the eco-friendly consumer. Since the use of drone delivery reduces a company’s carbon footprint, companies who opt-in for drone delivery services can drastically reduce their use of fossil fuels, help improve the environment, and have a customer feel good about their environmentally-sound decision.
5 Drone Delivery Startups
With the future of drone delivery right around the corner, it takes committed startups to help achieve these technological advancements despite challenges that inevitably occur. Although there are some roadblocks that have stunted recent progress in drone delivery (e.g. privacy concerns, weather conditions, no-fly zones, etc.), there are currently a variety of startups working to address these obstacles in order to make drone delivery a successful part of our everyday lives. At Iterate.ai, we believe in startups because we know that when powerful organizations partner up with startups, cutting-edge solutions quickly become unlocked. Startups are leaders in innovation. We are so confident in the power of startups that we created a platform, Signals, that has indexed over 15.8 million companies so that you can find a startup that fits your company’s needs and overall vision. Let’s take a look at 5 startups working on drone delivery, based on what our Signals platform has tracked.
- Zipline
This US company is the largest commercial autonomous delivery system in the world. Zipline has delivered over three million products to 25 million customers using drone delivery. This startup has served various communities since its founding, from distributing COVID-19 vaccines in Ghana, delivering medications to US residents, and even partnering with Walmart for retail drone delivery. Zipline knows how to face the obstacles related to drone delivery; they have reliable unmanned traffic management systems, and real-time weather forecasting technology in order to safely deploy their aircrafts. This drone delivery startup also has an internal app that optimizes their customer support, delivery tracking, and order fulfillment. Zipline works closely with their partners to make instant delivery via drones easy, possible, and accessible to all. - Volansi
Volansi is a US drone delivery startup that is working to make access to aerial delivery available to everyone. This company envisions a world where drone delivery will expedite humanitarian aid in remote, seemingly inaccessible locations. Using their VTOL (Vertical Take-off and Landing) technology, Volansi has revolutionized the way materials are delivered by shortening delivery times, eliminating unnecessary warehouse inventory, and increasing equipment up-time. This startup has already successfully tested out their drone deliveries by delivering life saving supplies and emergency equipment to Ocracoke Island in North Carolina’s Outer Banks region. They also support the mining, construction, oil, and gas industries by being able to deliver spare parts and critical supplies wherever needed in a timely manner. - Manna Drone Delivery
Manna is an Irish startup that has transformed drone delivery for direct-to-customer transactions. Using Manna’s app, customers can order a cup of coffee, lunch from their favorite local restaurant, or even medical supplies from a nearby pharmacy to be instantly delivered to their doorstep via Manna’s delivery drones. It really is that simple. Their vision is to improve the world by making lightening-fast suburban deliveries affordable, green, and safe. This startup promises fast delivery, with their average delivery time being 3 minutes, and sustainable practices, being that their drones are zero emission and completely electric. Manna has also addressed one of the major concerns folks generally have with drone delivery, privacy, by explaining that their drones do not video record anything and do not store any sensitive customer data. - SkyDrop
SkyDrop, formerly Flirtey, is a US startup and one of the very first drone delivery startups in the world. Famously known for completing the first pizza delivery via drone back in 2016, SkyDrop provides hardware, software, and patents to make commercial drone delivery a possibility. This startup’s mission is to make delivery instant for everyone, and they continue to partner with large organizations, like Domino’s Pizza, to make this a reality. SkyDrop has completed over 6,000 test flights for safety, and their drone can carry up to eight pounds and complete a three-mile delivery in six minutes. SkyDrops wants to empower businesses to be frontrunners in this new industry of drone delivery. - Pablo Air
This South Korean startup is looking to apply drone delivery to ecommerce, fresh food deliveries and medical deliveries. Pablo Air has already launched drones that have traveled over 1,500 miles as they work to make drone delivery accessible and possible for customers. Using their flight control technology, Pablo Air wants to benefit both producers and consumers by providing fast, reliable, and safe drone delivery options. This company dreams of a healthy society where everyone can receive necessary medications and/or relief supplies despite their geographical location (e.g. islands, remote mountain villages.)
Looking for a startup to help your vision of drone delivery come to life? Need a team of experts to offer innovative solutions related to the shipping services your company offers? Iterate.ai can provide this and other forms of support for your organization. Please contact us here for additional information.