Manna from heaven as Irish drones offer speedy delivery in Texas
Bobby Healy, CEO of Manna, the aviation-grade B2B drone delivery ‘as-a-service’ company, newly launched in Texas.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Neither — it’s your morning coffee, lunchtime sandwich and evening take-away dropped right in your lap from the open sky.
Manna, the world’s first aviation-grade B2B drone delivery ‘as-a-service’ company, stretched its wings into the heart of Texas last October — bearing a gift of Halloween magic. In a world-first, Europe’s largest and most-advanced drone delivery operator, took trick or treating to new heights — delivering candy to families in North Texas by drone.
Following successful operations in Ireland, Manna commenced a trial in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area in partnership with multinational real estate development company Hillwood. The trial kicked off Manna’s first US operations — where residents of the Pecan Square community had the opportunity to order a range of food and beverages — including a wide selection of Halloween chocolates and candies.
“After over four years of operations and over 150,000 flights logged in Europe, we are excited to be touching down in the United States to offer the residents of Dallas/Fort Worth a lightning-quick and sustainable home delivery service,” said Andrew Patton, Head of US for Manna Drone Delivery.
The business has already undertaken trials in Moneygall, Co Offaly and Oranmore, Co Galway, in addition to Balbriggan and Blanchardstown in Dublin.
The Texas trial comes in tandem with a strategic investment in the company from Coca-Cola HBC, strategic bottling partner of The Coca-Cola Company. Through its Ventures arm, Coca-Cola HBC, collaborates with disruptive start-ups that have synergies with its business ambitions in the areas of last mile, vending, coffee technology and sustainability.
Bobby Healy, CEO and founder of Manna, said: “We are delighted to partner with two major brands, Coca-Cola HBC and Hillwood, on our journey to bring a new form of delivery to suburban homes and as we start to scale globally. Working with Hillwood who develop technology-forward, innovative lifestyle communities and with Coca-Cola HBC who are committed to more sustainable and advanced delivery solutions, is testament to the realisation that last mile delivery can be done in a more efficient, safer and greener way.”
Manna commissioned a study with the University of Maynooth to compare the amount of carbon emitted during drone delivery to terrestrial forms of delivery, including cars, motorbikes and electric bikes. The study showed that Manna’s drone emitted between six and eight times less C02 than a small petrol car and that although e-bikes may emit slightly less carbon dioxide, they take twice as long as drones to complete deliveries.
“The aircraft itself produces no CO2 when it flies because it’s an electric-powered aircraft. The report from the University of Maynooth showed that we’re less efficient than an electric bicycle but eight times more efficient than a small petrol car.”
Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO, Coca-Cola HBC, said; “Our investment in Manna Drone Delivery, one of the most innovative drone delivery start-up companies in the world, encapsulates our ambition to deliver our products in new and more sustainable ways. We are excited about this partnership which allows us to be at the forefront of disruptive technologies across the worldwide consumer packaged goods market.”
For Manna, the strategic partnership will provide insights and expertise from a market leading beverage company, and over time, the two organisations plan to work to identify opportunities for Manna to scale across Coca-Cola HBC’s territories.
Bobby Healy began his career building video games for Nintendo, subsequently going on to found Eland, an airline tech company. He then built CarTrawler over a 15-year period, and led two successful LBOs for the business. For the last number of years, he has been building Manna Drone Delivery — a business whose mission is to improve the world by making lightning-fast suburban deliveries affordable, green and safe.
“The US is our number one target market and the consumer base there loves convenience. We want our drone to be like the original Volkswagen Beetle — it just keeps working and with low maintenance costs. The key is to fly into a world where you can do more than 100,000 flights between maintenance intervals. We’re building smart, electronic helicopters, but we have the safety overheads of both airlines and aircraft manufacturers.”
The original idea for Manna came from Bobby’s personal frustration with the inefficiency of last-mile delivery services in suburban areas.
“Living in a suburb of Dublin, I experienced firsthand the inconvenience of the absence of delivery services due to the perceived economic and environmental un-viability associated with low population densities. I vividly remember a delivery driver idling in a diesel car outside a restaurant, a scenario that exemplified an impractical and unsustainable method of delivery, both for people and the planet.”
The international business community has shown faith in the company’s new ideas. In addition to regulatory access across borders, Enterprise Ireland has been working to assist Manna throughout the fundraising process.
“Most businesses are predictable and believable. Ours is beyond cutting edge. We’re doing something totally new, but we have overcome disbelief and begun to successfully raise significant levels of capital.”
Manna is launching as a food delivery service, but Healy says the start-up won’t stop there. He decided to hone in on the food industry because the volume of potential deliveries is so high — this will allow the new business to be capital-efficient. Once the infrastructure is in place, however, Manna plans to also roll out services for pharmacies, hardware stores, butcher shops, bookstores, and anything else that fuels a local economy. In a nutshell, the sky is the limit for Manna.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
