Drone Delivery Startup Volansi Lands $50 Million Series B

Drone delivery provider Volansi just delivered some good news to its investors.

The CA-based startup landed $50 million in Series B funding from current investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and YCombinator as well as new investors Harpoon Ventures and Merck Global Health Innovation Fund.

Volansi provides automated drone delivery for time-critical parts and medical supplies for enterprise customers and the U.S. Department of Defense.

“This new funding will allow Volansi to build on current momentum by expanding its team, launching new projects and scaling current initiatives in both emerging markets and in the U.S.” a company spokesperson said.

“The combination of our best in class cargo drones and unique software platform set us apart from others in the industry,” Volansi CEO Hannan Parvizian said.

Parvizian added:

“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.”

Volansi also announced Joe Horowitz, managing partner of Icon, will join the startup’s board of directors.

“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,” Horowitz said.

“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.”

With $25 million of prior capital provided by Lightspeed and other investors, Volansi developed several new drone models, including the VOLY M20 and VOLY C10.

The VOLY C10 can carry up to 10 pounds of cargo more than 50 miles.  The delivery drone has flown missions in Africa, the Caribbean and the U.S.

A dual role aircraft, the VOLY M20 can carry up to 20 pounds of cargo in addition to 10 pounds of sensor payloads with a 350-mile range and a cruising speed of 75 mph.

“The Volansi team has made significant progress since Lightspeed led the company’s Series A back in 2019,” said Barry Eggers, founding partner of Lightspeed.

“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.”

In August, Volansi announced a partnership with the N.C. Department of Transportation to explore commercial, middle-mile drone delivery projects.