Flytrex, a leader in on-demand drone delivery for food and retail, announced that it has raised a $40 million Series C funding round, bringing its total funding to date to $60 million. The round was led by BRM Group with participation from OurCrowd, Lukasz Gadowski, Founder and Chairman at Delivery Hero, and includes existing investors Benhamou Global Ventures (BGV), btov, and BackBone Ventures. Flytrex will use the funds to ramp up expansion throughout the US and advance partnerships with leading retailers and quick-service restaurants (QSRs), paving the runway for a future where drone delivery is the rule rather than the exception.
Flytrex’s funding round comes in the wake of several key launches and expansions. Most recently, Flytrex launched its third drone delivery station in North Carolina, delivering food orders from restaurants and chains at the Holly Springs Towne Center to residents’ backyards – including from It’s Just Wings®, Brinker International’s virtual brand available from Chili’s® Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy®. Flytrex has been operating in the ‘First in Flight’ state since September 2020, beginning in Fayetteville, NC – delivering groceries and household items as well as restaurant orders to select customers – and has since expanded its service to the town of Raeford, NC. Since February 2021, the volume of Flytrex orders across its North Carolina operations has increased more than tenfold, with thousands of deliveries to date.
“On-demand drone delivery has skyrocketed since the pandemic began and is becoming much more mainstream, much faster than expected,” said Yariv Bash, CEO and Co-Founder of Flytrex. “We’re excited to continue working with the FAA, the North Carolina Department of Transportation and others to bring swift, affordable and sustainable on-demand drone delivery to more partners, communities and consumers across the country.”
Since successfully launching the world’s first fully autonomous urban drone delivery system in Reykjavik, Iceland in 2017, Flytrex has been helping drive regulatory advances aimed at getting drone delivery off the ground. Flytrex participated in the Federal Aviation Administration’s UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP) which concluded in October 2020, and continued in the FAA’s subsequent initiative, BEYOND, to work with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to help tackle the remaining challenges of UAS integration.
“We are committed to supporting companies that have the potential to change people’s lives for the better, and Flytrex’s impact on retailers and consumers alike fits that mission perfectly,” said Eran Barkat, Partner at BRM Group. “Drones are playing a key role in revolutionizing last mile delivery for communities around the world, and we are thrilled to support the Flytrex team as they take the future of food and household delivery to new heights.”
