India's Airbound bags $8.65M to build rocket-like drones for one-cent deliveries | TechCrunch

"Airbound, an Indian drone startup, has raised $8.65 million in seed funding led by Physical Intelligence co-founder Lachy Groom, as it begins a drone-delivery pilot with a private hospital and works toward one-cent delivery using its ultra-light, blended-wing-body aircraft. The seed round includes participation from Humba Ventures and Airbound's existing investor Lightspeed Venture Partners, as well as senior leaders at Tesla, SpaceX, and Anduril."

"Founded in 2020 by Naman Pushp - who was 15 at the time and is now 20 - Airbound has developed an aircraft using a tail-sitter design (where the drone sits vertically and launches upright like a rocket) and carbon fiber frame, aiming to deliver parcels at up to 20 times lower cost than conventional methods and significantly cheaper than existing drone delivery systems."

"Typically, electric two-wheelers are used in India to deliver payloads weighing under 3 kilograms, Pushp told TechCrunch, even though the vehicles themselves weigh around 150 kilograms (331 pounds) and cost about ₹2 (about $0.02) per kilometer in energy. Airbound aims to cut that cost down to as low as 10 paise (around $0.001) by using its drone, called the TRT, which is built specifically for small payloads and removes the need for a human driver - reducing total transport weight by roughly 30 times."

Airbound raised $8.65 million in seed funding led by Lachy Groom with participation from Humba Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and senior leaders at Tesla, SpaceX, and Anduril. The startup began a drone-delivery pilot with a private hospital while developing an ultra-light, blended-wing-body aircraft to lower parcel delivery costs. The TRT uses a tail-sitter design and carbon-fiber frame with two propellers, enabling vertical takeoff and efficient forward flight. The design targets small payloads under 3 kilograms, reduces total transport weight by about 30 times, and aims to cut energy cost per kilometer roughly 20-fold toward one-cent deliveries.

Read at TechCrunch