The pandemic ushered in a new area for technology use within restaurants with the first iteration focused on contactless payments and digital ordering. Now as we emerge from the pandemic, restaurants are looking for new avenues to streamline their operations and improve margins. The demand for delivery options skyrocketed during lockdowns but it came at a price for both restaurants and consumers with exorbitant fees. The typical delivery fee can range anywhere from $0 to $5.49 on some of the most popular apps that command a whopping 75% of the market. Flyby is a drone system and operator that allows food retailers to embrace the use of automated, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for delivery for a mere cost of $3 per delivery to consumers. A team of engineers from Yale, Anduril, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are now piloting the technology that has already shown promising returns; delivery times have averaged under 4 minutes. The American-made drones being used run on 5G and can deliver payloads of up to 6.5 lbs and can travel up to 45 minutes per single flight. Flyby is working towards achieving Level 4 autonomy, where a human pilot will verify a flight path and the drone itself will execute the delivery on its own, saving restaurants labor costs that trickle down to the customer.
LA TechWatch caught up with Flyby COO and Cofounder Cat Orman to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
As of March 2023, Flyby officially raised $4M in seed funding. The round was led by MaC Venture Capital, with participation from Weekend Fund, Barclays’ Anthemis, Karen Pritzker-backed LaunchCapital, Naval Ravikant (Co-Founder of AngelList) and Balaji Srinivasan (former CTO of Coinbase).
Tell us about your product or service.
Flyby Robotics is an end-to-end drone automation system developer and operator. Founded by a team of engineers out of Yale, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Anduril, Flyby was created to unlock the labor-saving potential of UAV technology for every merchant – empowering users to access more sustainable, affordable, and efficient delivery fulfillment.
Flyby’s autonomous flight capability stack consists of custom software, firmware, and hardware that enable UAVs to perform complex flights such as drone delivery and fulfill orders without human pilots. The Flyby payload lowering system is the world’s only certification-grade and airframe-agnostic payload deployment mechanism. It’s built for unmatched consumer experience and reliability. It can deliver up to a 3lb package safely and gently in just 15 seconds, minimizing aircraft loiter time.
What inspired the start of Flyby?
Jason Lu (cofounder) and I met as students at Yale, where we were curious and eager to explore the real life application of drone technology. Together, we formed a team of engineers out of Yale, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Anduril to create Flyby, in hopes of unlocking the labor-saving potential of UAV technology for every merchant.
How is it different?
Flyby has developed an industry-leading package deployment system, which gently winches products down from a hovering drone to customers’ doorsteps. The system is carefully designed to uphold a product’s quality during flight and delivery, and allows Flyby to deliver fragile products like smoothies without spilling a drop.
Flyby’s autonomous aerial delivery offers faster fulfillment while reducing costs for merchants and customers. Flyby’s average delivery time is under 4 minutes. Plus, we’ve developed an industry-leading package deployment system, which gently winches products down from a hovering drone to customers’ doorsteps. The system is carefully designed to uphold a product’s quality during flight and delivery, and allows Flyby to deliver fragile products like smoothies without spilling a drop.
What market are you targeting and how big is it?
Flyby has launched a pilot program, which includes a series of active partnerships with food retailers across the US. The first cohort of live retailers include smoothies from Nekter Juice Bar, salad from MAD Greens and Tokyo Joe’s and crunchy shiitake mushroom chips from Popadelics. During the live pilot, customers from participating retailers are able to order drone delivery for just $3, and experience delivery times averaging under 4 minutes.
Their initial launch in Phoenix marks a major shift in food delivery services, allowing customers to not only more easily connect with local restaurants, but also receive their fresh food faster. The Center for Smart Cities and Regions at Arizona State University has partnered with Flyby as they work collectively to advance Phoenix’s smart region vision.
Flyby has also received public support from local politicians and community leaders in the regions that they are currently operating in and plan on expanding into, including: Mayor Giles of Mesa, AZ; Mayor Ortega of Scottsdale, AZ; Michael Sherwood, Chief Innovation Officer at the City of Las Vegas; The NorthWest Arkansas Council; Arizona State University’s Center for Smart Cities & Regions; LA DOT’s Urban Mobility Labs, and others.
What’s your business model?
How Flyby works is simple:
- Flyby’s software seamlessly integrates into merchants’ native order management systems, automatically routing each order to the correct customer.
- Flyby relies on light and streamlined flight infrastructure, including a takeoff, loading, and landing setup that can fit within a single parking space and requires minimal maintenance.
Users simply order, pay a total $3 fee, and within minutes, receive a literal “airdrop” to their front door — without hassle, wait, or hidden costs.
How are you preparing for a potential economic slowdown?
Having been founded in 2020, we have been building and launching this company in the midst of an economic slowdown for years. This time has taught us not to rush, and to be smart with your money since you don’t know when the next check is coming in.
This most recent funding round will be going towards product development with the goal of achieving Level 4 autonomy for Flyby’s flight systems. This means that the UAV can fly entirely independently most of the time, but has a backup system allowing a human pilot to take over in rare circumstances. This Level 4 autonomy would completely reinvigorate Flyby’s services, allowing us to operate more drones with less people.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Flyby’s drone delivery system is not only catering to the increased number of work-from-homers who are looking to order from their favorite restaurants. They’re creating a system and process that cuts back on costs for both parties involved: merchants and customers. They make it easier than ever for retailers/restaurants to sell more while spending and doing less in the long run. This simplicity and convenience is something that every industry is reaching for, and something that investors are keeping an eye out for.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
By the end of this year, Flyby plans on expanding their pilot program to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Arkansas.
We are also working towards achieving Level 4 autonomy for our flight systems, something that our latest funding round will be contributing to. At Level 4, a human operator simply verifies high-level mission parameters, and leaves it to the drone to execute the flight by itself.
Ultimately, Flyby’s goal is to deliver food to people at an economic and environmental price point, offering faster fulfillment while reducing costs for both merchants and customers.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
Ultimately, Flyby’s goal is to deliver food to people at an economic and environmental price point, offering faster fulfillment while reducing costs for both merchants and customers. This means that next steps are both geographic expansion and product development. By the end of this year, Flyby plans on expanding their pilot program to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Arkansas.
They are also working towards achieving Level 4 autonomy for their flight systems, something that their latest funding round will be contributing to. At Level 4, a human operator simply verifies high-level mission parameters, and leaves it to the drone to execute the flight by itself.
