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- Drone Delivery News: Issue 03
Drone Delivery News: Issue 03
Delivery drones are taking to the skies in Silicon Valley, dropping off chocolate bars, chips and canned coffee
Andrew Hazen
May 02, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes
🌟 Editor's Note
Welcome to another exciting week in drone delivery and vibrant tech! We've got a packed newsletter full of insights, events, and inspiring stories from the heart of innovation.
📅 Latest Events
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🚀 Latest Drone Delivery News
Amazon may bring drone delivery to Kansas City. Here’s the plan Amazon Air announced that its drones have been given clearance to fly further than ever, unleashing new potential for deliveries.
Delivery drones take off in Mountain View Delivery drones are taking to the skies in Silicon Valley, dropping off chocolate bars, chips and canned coffee in small packages outside people’s homes.
Amazon launches drone delivery service in Tolleson for local online shoppers
Drone delivery startup Zipline expands to Texas with Walmart partnership In Mesquite, Texas, about 15 miles east of Dallas, Walmart customers can sign up to receive orders within 30 minutes, delivered on Zipline’s newest unmanned aerial vehicles, known as P2 Zips
A drone operator loads a Walmart package into Zipline’s P1 fixed-wing drone for delivery to a customer home in Pea Ridge, Arkansas
💰 Startup Spotlight
The Backstory: Manna Drone Delivery is an Irish startup founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneur Bobby Healy, previously known for his work with CarTrawler. Healy envisioned transforming last-mile delivery by leveraging autonomous drones to provide faster, more sustainable, and cost-effective alternatives to traditional road-based logistics, especially in suburban areas where conventional delivery models often struggle to be profitable.
Key Innovation: Manna's core innovation lies in its proprietary drone delivery platform, designed and manufactured in Europe. Their drones can carry payloads of up to 4 kilograms (approximately 8.8 pounds) and operate at altitudes around 250 feet, enabling rapid deliveries within a 2-kilometer radius in approximately three minutes. The drones are fully electric, contributing to zero-emission operations. Notably, a single operator can oversee up to 20 drones simultaneously, enhancing operational efficiency.
Funding: As of March 2025, Manna has raised a total of $91.4 million in funding. The most recent funding round secured $30 million, led by existing investors Molten Ventures and Tapestry VC, with participation from Enterprise Ireland, Coca-Cola HBC, Dynamo VC, and Radius Capital. This capital is intended to support Manna's expansion efforts in Ireland and internationally.
Manna has also established partnerships with major retailers and food delivery platforms, including Just Eat, Takeaway*com, to facilitate drone-operated deliveries.
🔥 In Case You Missed It…
Legal & Zoning Roundup
New Drone Laws Effective in Ohio New laws aim to enhance safety, protect privacy, align state laws with federal
Oregon may increase penalties for drone interference A firefighting plane attempting to respond last year to a fire in Los Angeles had to be pulled out of operation for days after it collided with a drone that damaged the plane’s wing.
Florida Bill Proposes Homeowners Could Use Force Against Drones Over Private Property The bill, an extension of a 2024 act that made it illegal to take photos or videos of persons or private property using a drone without permission (although it was silent on the issue of live surveillance), would empower homeowners to use “reasonable force” to take down drones flying over their property.
A New Bill in Congress Could Create Up To 90,000 New Drone Laws The bill creates a new legal term, “immediate reaches of airspace,” which would be defined as the first 200 feet above ground level. This swath of airspace would not be regulated by the FAA for drones but would be passed on to local governments to determine how, when, and if drones can fly in their jurisdiction.
🏆 Image of the Week
 Mother’s Day Snacks Delivered by Drone | Bob Rodriguez: Tech Innovator🌉 Background: Software engineer and digital health entrepreneur from San Francisco 👑 Achievement: Recently developed an AI-powered diagnostic tool that reduces medical screening times by 60% for early-stage cancer detection 🙈 Quirk: Proudly carries a vintage flip phone, a stark contrast to his cutting-edge AI work |
Eating From Drone Food Delivery
Trying drone food delivery service in China…
Did You Know? Some drones can deliver defibrillators faster than ambulances — and have already saved lives.
In Sweden, a man suffering a cardiac arrest in 2021 became the first known person saved by a drone-delivered defibrillator. The drone arrived in just 3 minutes, well ahead of the ambulance, allowing a bystander to use the device and stabilize the man before EMTs arrived.
💡 Drone delivery isn’t just about coffee or burritos — it’s literally saving lives in emergency medical situations.
Till next time,