Airbound, a drone delivery startup is focused on building next-generation drones that can reduce the cost of the last-mile by over two orders of magnitude. The company just secured $1.7 million in seed funding led by Lightspeed, which invested in notable companies such as Stability AI. The round also saw participation from gradCapital and prominent angels.
The company aims to build the world’s most efficient delivery drone. In addition to the investment, the company also came out of stealth.
What challenge does it tackle?
The drone delivery industry has faced challenges due to regulatory complexity and high per-mile costs. These factors have prevented drones from becoming the default solution for last-mile logistics.
Many of the major regulatory and technological bottlenecks have been addressed, and public enthusiasm around the technology is rising. The only remaining challenge has been making the technology cost effective, a problem Airbound has solved.
Next-gen drone design
With its proprietary blended wing body tailsitter design, called TRT, Airbound aims to transform logistics, reducing delivery costs by two orders of magnitude compared to traditional options. This design is touted to be the 10 times lighter than other long-range delivery drones, reducing the cost of deliveries to just a few cents.
How was the idea born?
Airbound was founded by Naman Pushp and Faraaz Baig in 2020 in India. The journey began as a high school project for Naman, who turned down an offer to study at Carnegie Mellon University to pursue his passion for drones. With early backing from gradCapital, he spent four years developing TRT, innovating on carbon composite manufacturing, aerostructures, and advanced control systems.
Now, Airbound’s drone is over three times lighter than conventional alternatives, with four times the aerodynamic efficiency, significantly reducing upfront and operating costs.
Airbound drone: More details
This Indian startup’s drone has a weight of 2.5kg and can carry a maximum payload of 1kg. With a range of 100km, it is suitable for a range of applications. Its projected area is 2.5 sq ft, which is relatively compact. Interestingly, its manufacturing cost is $700, and offers a cost-effective solution with a good range and payload capacity for various use cases.
Airbound’s initial focus is on medical deliveries, especially routine supply deliveries such as transporting blood samples from health centres to testing labs.
Once the system is proven at scale, the company plans to expand into other applications including food and grocery delivery, where reducing logistics costs can significantly enhance profitability. As per the company, its drones have already spanned thousands of kilometres.
“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 scrutinised every vehicle system to reduce weight, enhance safety and reliability, and maximise efficiency. We developed new methods to manufacture carbon fibre, which allow us to reduce the weight of our Airframe from 6 pounds to 400 grams. Our goal isn’t just to build a great drone—we want to create a world where delivery is essentially free”
Hemant Mohapatra, partner, Lightspeed commented: “Drones are the future of deliveries and we are highly optimistic about the potential of this game-changing technology in revolutionising 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.”
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