Page 68 - World Airnews Magazine October Edition 2020

NEWS DIGITAL

ACCELERATING MIDDLE-MILE

DRONE DELIVERY

“The drone market is very crowded with all sorts of players, but
after getting to know Hannan and his team and doing an extensive
A US based drone company called Volansi has just secured amount of due diligence, especially with Volansi’s key customers
and distribution partners, it became abundantly clear that the
(US) $50 million in a series B round of funding recently. company is well-positioned to rapidly build a huge business,” said
Volansi specialises in vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) Joe Horowitz of Icon.
middle-mile drone delivery services. “We are particularly excited about Volansi’s unique ability to
Led by Icon Ventures, other participants in this financing include address the medical community with urgent vaccine delivery,
existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and YCombinator as particularly in looking ahead to a post-COVID world.”
well as new investors Harpoon Ventures and Merck Global Health With (US) $25 million of prior capital provided by Lightspeed
Innovation Fund. and other investors, Volansi developed and brought to market
In addition to the company’s funding, Volansi has also appointed first-of-their-kind autonomous drones, including the VOLY M20 and
Joe Horowitz, managing partner of Icon and Barry Eggers, founding VOLY C10.
partner of Lightspeed, as members of their board of directors. The VOLY C10, the workhorse of Volansi’s UAV fleet, carries
Volansi provides automated point-to-point drone delivery up to 10-pounds of cargo over 50 miles. The aircraft has already
services for time-critical parts and urgent medical supplies for performed operations in Africa, the Caribbean, and the US.
enterprise customers and the US department of defence. The VOLY M20, is a dual role aircraft with the ability to simulta-
The new funding will allow Volansi to build on current momen- neously carry up to 20-pounds of cargo in addition to 10-pounds
tum by expanding its team, launching new projects and scaling of sensor payloads. It has a 350-mile range, a cruising speed
current initiatives in both emerging markets and in the US. of 75 mph, and more than eight hours of endurance for sensor
“The combination of our best in class cargo drones and unique operations.
software platform set us apart from others in the industry,” said "The Volansi team has made significant progress since Lightspeed
Hannan Parvizian, CEO and Co-Founder of Volansi. led the company's Series A back in 2019," said Barry Eggers,
“Closing our Series B with such high-quality investors, especially founding partner of Lightspeed.
during these challenging times, is further testament to the venture "We've been impressed by the leadership and team's ability to
capital community’s confidence in our business and will allow us to innovate and execute, and we are looking forward to deepening
keep pushing the envelope of mobility and robotics.” our partnership during this next phase of growth."Q

World Airnews | October Extra 2020
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