Drone-delivered food coming to Mesa
Apr. 22—Drone delivery of meals will begin soon in Mesa after a new startup sewed up $4 million in seed funding.
Flyby Robotics, a California drone automation and delivery company, announced it raised the money to build end-to-end automation for drone delivery.
Founder/CEO Jason Lu said he created the company to unlock the labor-saving potential of unmanned aerial vehicle technology for every merchant.
"You don't have to be a multibillion-dollar corporation or a global military superpower to reap the economic benefits of autonomous drones," Lu said.
"Our AI-powered autonomous systems allow any merchant to dramatically reduce the cost of delivery to their customers."
With the launch of the live pilot program, customers will be able to place an order for a $3 fee on the Flyby app and expect delivery times averaging under 4 minutes.
While all drones are monitored by FAA-certified commercial pilots and come equipped with federally compliant parachutes, customers who place orders are asked to maintain a safe distance from the devices.
They also will be asked to watch their surroundings, communicate with visual markers to their pilot and not hang up until the order is delivered, according to the app.
The first group of participating food retailers in Mesa includes smoothies from Nekter Juice Bar, salads from MAD Greens and sushi from Tokyo Joe's.
Flyby has already developed a package deployment system that gently winches products down from a hovering drone to customers' doorsteps.
It also is designed to keep food items' quality during flight and delivery so that it boasts it can deliver fragile products like smoothies without spilling a drop.
Flyby's newest F-11A UAV offers a maximum flight time of 45 minutes, a maximum flight speed of 34 miles per hour, and a maximum payload capacity of 20 pounds, according to the company's website.
Dr. Diana Bowman, associate dean and professor at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law and co-director for The Center for Smart Cities and Regions at Arizona State University, said she's delighted to partner with innovative companies such as Flyby.
Bowman said the launch in the East Valley could bring a "paradigm shift in food delivery services" that enables consumers to more easily connect with local restaurants and receive fresh food faster
"Flyby's entrance into the Mesa market further enhances the Greater Phoenix region's vision to be the smartest and most connected region not only in the United States but across the world," she said.
Nekter Juice Bar co-founder/CEO Steve Schulze said this new endeavor continues the company's tradition of working with "future-looking" companies like Flyby.
"Nekter Juice Bar has always pushed forward to the forefront of technology to improve the guest experience, starting with our best-in-class app with more than 1.3 million loyalty members and user-friendly online ordering capabilities," Schulze said.
Flyby's drones operate without any human intervention throughout the delivery process but allow a remote pilot to manually override automatic commands when necessary.
"We saw in the Flyby team the tenacity and technical rigor to execute on a game-changing idea," says Adrian Fenty, founding managing partner at MaC Venture Capital.
"We're excited to watch drone delivery transform retail over the next five years."
