Silicon Canals
TRENDING
  • Mobility
  • AI
  • FinTech
  • Software & SaaS
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • COVID-19
    • Startups
    • Scaleups
    • FinTech
    • AI and chatbots
    • Travel & Mobility
    • Software & SaaS
    • Health & Medtech
    • (Crowd)funding
    • Blockchain
    • Internet of things
    • Hardware
    • Accelerators
    • E-commerce
    • Cybersecurity
    • Gaming & Virtual Reality
    • Drones
  • Features
    • Promoted content
    • How-to
    • Knowledge & Insights
    • Guest Contributions
    • Scaling-up in Europe
  • Amsterdampartner
  • Events
  • Newsletter
  • Jobs
  • About
    • Partner with Silicon Canals
    • Team
    • Contact
  • Home
  • News
    • COVID-19
    • Startups
    • Scaleups
    • FinTech
    • AI and chatbots
    • Travel & Mobility
    • Software & SaaS
    • Health & Medtech
    • (Crowd)funding
    • Blockchain
    • Internet of things
    • Hardware
    • Accelerators
    • E-commerce
    • Cybersecurity
    • Gaming & Virtual Reality
    • Drones
  • Features
    • Promoted content
    • How-to
    • Knowledge & Insights
    • Guest Contributions
    • Scaling-up in Europe
  • Amsterdampartner
  • Events
  • Newsletter
  • Jobs
  • About
    • Partner with Silicon Canals
    • Team
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Silicon Canals
No Result
View All Result

Meet Manna, the Irish drone delivery startup helping rural areas during pandemic

Editorial team by Editorial team
June 1, 2020
in News, Drones, Startups
0
Meet Manna, the Irish drone delivery startup helping rural areas during pandemic
58
SHARES
LinkedInTwitterWhatsAppFacebook

Coronavirus has not only left many industries disrupted but also paved the way for advancements in select sectors. Like telehealth and autonomous delivery robots, coronavirus has also given drones an opportunity to kick in. And, the Irish drone startup Manna has made used of this pandemic outbreak despite the disruption in its plans.

Founded in 2018 by Bobby Healy, Manna was all set to kick start its drone delivery service around a Dublin university campus back in March but the pandemic outbreak and the subsequent lockdown disrupted its pilot programme. However, the drone startup reshuffled its operations and started delivering medication and urgent supplies to the senior citizens in rural areas.

 - Partner content -
Cost of software - The Software house
The cost of building software
Marek Gajda, CTO of The Software House, shares his insights on building high-quality...Show More
Marek Gajda, CTO of The Software House, shares his insights on building high-quality software. Show Less
Read more

Manna adapted to changes!

Initially, Manna was all set to deliver Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to students in Dublin. The startup struck a deal with Unilever and Just Eat to deliver the same to 30,000 students of Dublin University from March 18. As it neared the fixed date, the pandemic outbreak made changes to the company’s plans. The founder and CEO, Bobby Healy realised that people isolated in rural areas will be in need of medicines and groceries among other essential supplies. And, decided to use Manna’s drones to deliver these supplies.

What’s interesting to know about this Irish drone delivery startup is that they didn’t wait for things to calm down and the Irish government to ease restrictions. Instead, they used the food delivery drones to delivery medication and other essential supplies. During the coronavirus outbreak, the drone delivery startup ensures to follow safety measures and social distancing norms. Drones execute deliveries with zero human contact that isn’t the case with normal ways of delivery.

First pilot programme!

Manna chose Moneygall for its first trial that has been running for six weeks. One of its drones has been deployed to handle between 20 and 50 deliveries a day. The drone can carry between 4.5 pounds and 9 pounds of supplies. After witnessing success, Manna proceeded with the delivery of products besides essentials such as medicines, butter, and bread. The startup had delivered Fanta, a birthday cake, and puncture repair kits as well in the village. They even delivered a pizza to a parish priest (85).

Back in late 2019, Manna secured nearly €2.7 million funding from Dynamo VC, a logistics-focused fund. The drone delivery startup channelled the funding for its commercial growth that will deploy a fleet of drones to deliver food directly from restaurants to consumers.

Plans to expand further

Following the successful pilot programme in the village, Manna is in plans to expand its drone delivery service to a relatively larger town. However, they are yet to finalise the town. The company doesn’t want to break into large cities with dense populations as there are roadblocks such as limited outdoor space that challenge drone deliveries. Tapping into rural communities, Manna Aera intends to become popular without facing competition from food delivery giants such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats.

Main image picture credits: Manna

Stay tuned to Silicon Canals for more European technology news.

close

Want to stay on top of the latest rounds, coolest tech and hottest startups?

Subscribe to our free, daily news blast and stay up-to-date!

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

 - Partner content -
Nebula CTO Andre Witte
Cloud spend management 😱
Tracking cloud spend can be tricky. Learn from Nebula's CTO Andre Witte how to keep the...Show More
Tracking cloud spend can be tricky. Learn from Nebula's CTO Andre Witte how to keep the costs at bay in 2021. Show Less
Read more
Tags: Dronesfeaturedstartups
Share3Tweet12SendShare30

Partner content | Work with us

Future of coding: CTOs discuss low-code versus custom code software development for their business

Why now is the perfect time to start hiring for 2021

SaaS sales in 2021: 9 predictions from an industry expert

Diversity in hiring for SaaS: the often overlooked topic of ageism

Boost your scale-up’s growth by outsourcing to these top Eastern European software development companies

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Breaking news from Amsterdam | Partner

Amsterdam-based Creative Fabrica raises €5.76M Series A to change the way people consume digital assets

Here’s how Amsterdam-based Virtuagym helps gyms, fitness providers during lockdown

Amsterdam-based soft-skill scaleup Lepaya enters Sweden; here’s why

9 promising sustainable startups from Amsterdam to watch in 2021

Advertisement

Trending

Amsterdam
Amsterdam

9 promising sustainable startups from Amsterdam to watch in 2021

January 20, 2021
BUX
News

The crypto platform of Amsterdam fintech BUX witnesses “explosive growth” as Bitcoin remains popular

January 22, 2021
Dutch Scaleup
Amsterdam

Meet the 10 Dutch scaleups selected by Amsterdam-based Techleap.nl for Rise Programme 2021

January 20, 2021
  • About Silicon Canals
  • Partner with Silicon Canals
  • Contact us
  • Newsletter
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & Conditions Silicon Canals

Silicon Canals 2014-2020 | Website: Bright Idiots

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • COVID-19
    • Startups
    • Scaleups
    • FinTech
    • AI and chatbots
    • Travel & Mobility
    • Software & SaaS
    • Health & Medtech
    • (Crowd)funding
    • Blockchain
    • Internet of things
    • Hardware
    • Accelerators
    • E-commerce
    • Cybersecurity
    • Gaming & Virtual Reality
    • Drones
  • Features
    • Promoted content
    • How-to
    • Knowledge & Insights
    • Guest Contributions
    • Scaling-up in Europe
  • Amsterdam
  • Events
  • Newsletter
  • Jobs
  • About
    • Partner with Silicon Canals
    • Team
    • Contact

Silicon Canals 2014-2020 | Website: Bright Idiots

X

This website uses cookies to ensure the best possible experience. We may share this information with our advertising and analytics partners. By clicking 'Accept', you agree to our use of cookies and similar technologies. More info