- Volansi — a leader in vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) middle-mile drone delivery services — announced recently that it closed $50 million in Series B funding
Volansi — a leader in vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) middle-mile drone delivery services — announced recently that it closed $50 million in Series B funding. This round of funding was led by Icon Ventures. And other participants that joined the round include existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and Y Combinator as well as new investors Harpoon Ventures and Merck Global Health Innovation Fund. In connection with the funding round, Volansi also announced Joe Horowitz, managing partner of Icon, and Barry Eggers, founding partner of Lightspeed, will join its Board of Directors.
Volansi is providing automated point-to-point drone delivery services for time-critical parts and urgent medical supplies for enterprise customers and the U.S. Department of Defense. And this new funding will enable Volansi to build on current momentum by expanding its team, launching new projects, and scaling current initiatives in both emerging markets and in the US.
With $25 million of prior capital provided by Lightspeed and other investors, Volansi developed and brought to market the first-of-their-kind autonomous drones, including the VOLY M20 and VOLY C10. And the VOLY C10 — the workhorse of Volansi’s UAV fleet — carries up to 10-pounds of cargo over 50 miles.
The aircraft has already performed operations in Africa, the Caribbean, and the US. And the VOLY M20 is a dual role aircraft with the ability to simultaneously carry up to 20-pounds of cargo in addition to 10-pounds of sensor payloads. Plus it has a 350-mile range, a cruising speed of 75 mph, and more than eight hours of endurance for sensor operations.
KEY QUOTES:
“The combination of our best in class cargo drones and unique software platform set us apart from others in the industry. Closing our Series B with such high-quality investors, especially during these challenging times, is further testament to the venture capital community’s confidence in our business and will allow us to keep pushing the envelope of mobility and robotics.”
— Hannan Parvizian, CEO and Co-Founder of Volansi
“The drone market is very crowded with all sorts of players, but after getting to know Hannan and his team and doing an extensive amount of due diligence, especially with Volansi’s key customers and distribution partners, it became abundantly clear that the company is well-positioned to rapidly build a huge business. We are particularly excited about Volansi’s unique ability to address the medical community with urgent vaccine delivery, particularly in looking ahead to a post-COVID world.”
— Joe Horowitz of Icon
“The Volansi team has made significant progress since Lightspeed led the company’s Series A back in 2019. We’ve been impressed by the leadership and team’s ability to innovate and execute, and we are looking forward to deepening our partnership during this next phase of growth.”
— Barry Eggers, founding partner of Lightspeed
