Airbound’s TRT design is pitched as the lightest, safest, and most economically viable delivery drone, reducing the cost of deliveries to just a few cents.
Drone technology startup, Airbound, has announced a $1.7 million seed round led by Lightspeed.
With its proprietary blended wing body tailsitter design, called TRT, the company aims to transform logistics, reducing delivery costs by two orders of magnitude compared to traditional options.
Historically, the drone delivery industry has faced challenges due to regulatory complexity and high per mile costs, which have prevented drones from becoming the default solution for last mile logistics. Airbound’s TRT design is pitched as the lightest, safest, and most economically viable delivery drone, reducing the cost of deliveries to just a few cents.
“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 at 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”
The journey began as a high school project for Naman Pushp, 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, working on carbon composite manufacturing, aerostructures, and advanced control systems.
Airbound’s initial focus is on medical deliveries, particularly routine supply deliveries such as transporting blood samples from health centres to testing labs. Once the system is proven at scale, Airbound plans to expand into other applications including food and grocery delivery.
Hemant Mohapatra, Partner, Lightspeed, said, “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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