Drone technology startup Airbound has secured US$1.7m in seed funding to build the world’s most efficient delivery drone
It aims to transform logistics, reducing delivery costs by two orders of magnitude compared with traditional options.
Historically, the drone delivery industry has faced challenges due to regulatory complexity and high per-mile costs, which have prevented drones from becoming the default solution for last-mile logistics. According to Airbound, its proprietary blended wing body tailsitter design, called TRT, will be the lightest, safest and most economically viable delivery drone, reducing the cost of deliveries to just a few cents.
“We are proud to have developed not only an industry-leading delivery drone but also a highly efficient, scalable manufacturing process,” said Naman Pushp, founder and CEO of Airbound “We scrutinized every vehicle system to reduce weight, enhance safety and reliability and maximize efficiency. We developed new methods to manufacture carbon fiber, which allow us to reduce the weight of our Airframe from 6lb [2.7kg] to 400g. Our goal isn’t just to build a great drone – we want to create a world where delivery is essentially free.”
Airbound’s initial focus is on medical deliveries, particularly routine supply deliveries such as transporting blood samples from health centers to testing labs. Once the system is proven at scale, Airbound plans to expand into other applications including food and grocery delivery, where reducing logistics costs can significantly enhance profitability. In total, the company’s drones have already spanned thousands of kilometers.
Hemant Mohapatra, a partner at Lightspeed, which led the funding round, commented, “Drones are the future of deliveries and we are highly optimistic about the potential of this game-changing technology in revolutionizing logistics. Our investment in Airbound aligns with our mission of backing founders who can identify market gaps and pioneer path-breaking products to address those. We are incredibly excited to partner with Naman, confident that their innovation will redefine delivery logistics.”
Read more about Airbound here https://www.airbound.co/
https://couriernews.co.uk/blog/airbound-to-transform-drone-logistics/