Drone deliveries have always been touted as the fastest way of delivering goods to customers compared to other methods. Automated drone delivery has the potential to transform multiple industries, from healthcare to the food and beverage sector. Not only can drones deliver instantaneously, but they also reduce shipping costs on an average.
At present, many startups are developing this technology, and some are even leading the movement. Based out of California, Matternet is one such startup that has developed a technology for on-demand, aerial delivery in urban environments.
Matternet comes to Germany
The US drone delivery company recently launched its operation at Labor Berlin Charité Vivantes in Germany. The program kicked-off November 17, 2020, with permanent operations expected to take flight next year, creating the first urban BVLOS medical drone delivery network in the European Union.
According to Matternet, it aims to improve the timeliness and efficiency of Labor Berlin’s diagnostics services, which will improve the patient experience with potentially life-saving benefits and lower costs.
What is Labor Berlin?
Labor Berlin is Europe’s largest hospital laboratory with facilities in 13 hospitals across the city. It is responsible for diagnostics for 80% of patient beds in Berlin.
Nina Beikert, Managing Director of Labor Berlin, says, “Reducing diagnostic lead times can greatly improve patient outcomes and experiences. Matternet’s drone delivery network will be not only able to transport patient samples from hospitals to Labor Berlin facilities up to 70% quicker, but also reduce vehicular traffic and emissions in Berlin’s urban core.”
Currently, over 15,000 samples are transported daily across Labor Berlin’s extensive network. With Matternet’s drone delivery, Labor Berlin’s has the potential to serve millions of patients each year.
The network will connect three locations initially: Labor Berlin’s central lab on Charité Campus Virchow-Klinikum, the Charité Hospital Campus Benjamin Franklin, and the Corona Clinic by Vivantes – Corona-Behandlungszentrum Jafféstraße.
During the initial phase, both the organisation will work to determine optimal ways to integrate drone delivery into the laboratory group’s existing workflow. The US company is said to work with the Air Navigation Service Provider in Germany and UTM providers to integrate the drones safely into Berlin’s airspace.
Provides ‘platform-as-a-service’
Founded by Andreas Raptopoulos, Arturo Pelayo, Dimitar Pachov, and Paola Santana in 2011, Matternet provides ‘platform-as-a-service’ (PaaS) to healthcare and logistics organisations. Back in March 2017, Matternet became the first company to be authorised for commercial BVLOS operations of drone logistics networks over cities in Switzerland. To date, Matternet technology has enabled 10,000+ commercial revenue drone flights.
Funding and investors
To date, Matternet has raised $31.1M (approx €26.1M) in five rounds from various investors including McKesson Ventures, Boeing HorizonX Ventures, Daimler, and others. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California.
Main image credits: Matternet
01
destream: Building the financial backbone of the creator economy