Bengaluru-based Airbound has raised USD 37 million in a Series A funding round led by Greenoaks, with participation from DoorDash, Lightspeed, Lachy Groom and Humba Ventures. The new funding will support the company’s engineering, commercial manufacturing and launch activities.
According to TechCrunch, Airbound has signed an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government to develop a three-city drone delivery network, with an eventual target of 10,000 flights a day for retail, e-commerce and healthcare deliveries.
Airbound says it has completed more than 13,000 autonomous flights to date. Its current drone uses a vertical-take-off-and-landing, tail-sitter design, taking off vertically before transitioning to horizontal flight.
TechCrunch reports that more than 1000 of Airbound’s flights have been conducted for Narayana Health, transporting diagnostic samples between healthcare facilities. The company currently operates a route of around 2.5 miles that takes approximately seven minutes by drone.
The Andhra Pradesh network is intended to expand Airbound’s operations beyond healthcare into retail and e-commerce, with the company aiming to build a larger-scale autonomous aerial logistics network.
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India’s Airbound bags $37M to take on trucks with rocket-like drones
(Image: Airbound)