Autonomous cargo drone airline Dronamics announces it has raised $40 million ahead of Series A • InNewCL
Autonomous cargo drone airline Dronamics announces it has raised $40 million ahead of Series A • InNewCL
#Autonomous #cargo #drone #airline #Dronamics #announces #raised #million #ahead #Series #InNewCL Welcome to InNewCL, here is the new story we have for you today:
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Autonomous aircraft have long been seen as having the greatest potential, though not so much in the glittering drones that carry people as in the quieter world of cargo. This is where the economic savings could be greatest. Large, long-haul drones purpose-built for cargo transport have the potential to be faster, cheaper, and emit less CO2 than traditional aircraft, enabling same-day shipments over very long distances. In fact, the “flying delivery van” is considered the holy grail by many freight forwarders.
There are a number of companies in this space, including: ElroyAir (California, $56M raised), Hybrid Electric Vehicles, VTOL, meaning short range; Natilus (California, funding undisclosed) uses a mixed wing body and is a large, longer-term project that will likely incur fairly high certification and production costs. Then there’s Beta (Vermont, $886 million raised), which is an electric VTOL.
In this room, from Bulgaria (but with HQ in London), comes Dronamics. The startup has already been licensed to operate in Europe and plans to operate a “cargo drone airline” using purpose-built drones. Dronamics claims its flagship Black Swan model will be able to carry 350 kg (770 lb) up to 2,500 km (1,550 miles) faster, cheaper and with fewer emissions than currently available options.
It now comes out with the news that it has raised a total of $40 million in pre-Series A funding from VCs and Angels.
To date, Dronamics has raised funds from Founders Factory, Speedinvest, Eleven Capital and the Strategic Development Fund (SDF), the investment arm of Tawazun Council, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Svilen Rangelov, co-founder and CEO of Dronamics, explained to me via email: “We are the size of a delivery van (Renault Kangoo / VW Caddy) and can cross all of Europe in 12 hours or less at a fraction of the cost of air freight. This means we operate in a space between air freight and road freight, and by creating a faster, cheaper and greener middle mile we can help customers realize huge savings.”
“Right now, the radius of a fulfillment center is a 2-hour same-day drive… The only way to extend same-day coverage is to deploy an inexpensive middle-mile drone (a flying delivery truck) over longer distances. With our range, we can cover all of Europe on the same day from a single warehouse – no one can offer that, neither traditional nor drone competitors,” he added.
He said that unlike competitors, they are already certified to fly (LUC – Light UAS Operator Certificate, under the new EU drone regulations), their cost profile is lower and they are selling capacity instead of aircraft: “This enables the feedback loop between R&D and Die Processes become much shorter and we can innovate and iterate faster.”
The investment by the SDF Venture Capital division in Dronamics now means the formation of a UAE-based joint venture, creating a UAE-based Dronamics operation as a hub for the Middle East and North Africa region.
Abdulla Naser Al Jaabari, Managing Director and CEO of SDF, said in a statement: “When it comes to Dronamics, their economics are very promising and potential users of Dronamics would benefit from fast and efficient cargo deliveries.”
The $40 million raised to date comes in addition to the €2.5 million ($2.7 million) granted to Dronamics by the European Commission under its European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator program and an additional EUR 12.5 million ($13.45 million) to the EIC’s material commitment to support Dronamics’ Series A round.
