Israeli startup Flytrex has launched today for the first time a commercial delivery service through a wide range of skis in Reykjavik, Iceland. The Tel Aviv company will work with AHA, Iceland’s largest shopping and retail website.
Using autonomous delivery drone ‘Mule’, which can carry up to 6.5 lbs (3 kg) at a distance of 6 miles, (about 2.5 kilometers), the drones will fly from the AHA logistics center in the city to a pre-defined point in a small suburb outside the Reykjavik.
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Flytrex’s drones can complete this distance within 4 minutes, compared to the 30 minutes required for a vehicle that has to maneuver in the small island. The innovative approach in the field is that the drones perform the delivery at a speed of 54 km/h, does so outside the operator’s view. While other companies, including Amazon, have tested drone deliveries, Flyrex put them on service for commercial use.
Maron Kristófersson CEO of AHA said according to the company website: “In the recent months there has been a tremendous increase in our online delivery orders, especially in the retail products and we are forecasting a very expedited growth in the grocery deliveries in the coming months.Over the last 4 years we have been monitoring online delivery solution technologies around the globe, and feel that Flytrex has a smart, safe and commercially viable solution to the problem. We hope to co-operate with them not only in Iceland, but also internationally in the future.”
Founded in 2013 by CEO Yariv Bash with 13 employees and headquartered in Tel Aviv, Flytrex, raised a $3 million Series A earlier this year. In the leading round are Armada VC, owned by Daniel Aegerter, as well as private angel investors Daniel Gutenberg and Joey Low. A few unnamed private angel investors also participated. Its drones were approved by the Icelandic Transport Authority to pick up orders from restaurants and stores on one side of Reykjavik and fly them to a designated drop-off point in the suburb of Grafarvogur.
