Irish drone delivery company Manna has secured a $25 million (€20.7 million) investment as it looks to scale the business to operate in multiple markets by 2023. Founded in 2018 by entrepreneur Bobby Healy, Manna has developed aviation-grade drones that fly at 80km/h and deliver goods including groceries, takeaways and medicines, within a three-kilometre radius in less than three minutes. Manna has already signed partnerships with a number of major brands and retailers including Tesco, Samsung and Just Eat. “Our biggest competition in drones is (Google parent) Alphabet and Amazon but this is a trillion-plus dollar opportunity so I’m happy to share the market with those two players,” Mr Healy added. That is within our investment remit, added Nicola McClafferty, investment partner at Draper Esprit in Dublin.

Source: The Irish Times April 29, 2021 03:00 UTC