Techstars is a global platform that provides investment and innovation. Through the Techstars Worldwide Entrepreneur Network, founders and their teams connect with other entrepreneurs, experts, mentors, alumni, investors, community leaders, and corporate partners who will help their companies grow. Techstars operates four divisions: Techstars Mentorship-Driven Accelerator Program supercharges success and Techstars Startup Programs inspire, educate, and connect entrepreneurs. Techstars Venture Capital Fund invests in innovative and disruptive companies. Techstars Corporate Innovation Partnerships help brands create products and services. Techstars' accelerator portfolio includes more than 1,000 companies with a market cap of $8.1 billion.

Techstars

Sequoia is a venture capital focused on energy, financial, enterprise, healthcare, internet, and mobile startups. The firm helps a small number of daring founders build legendary companies. It spurs them to push the boundaries of what’s possible. The firm seeks to invest in all sectors with a focus on energy, financials and financial services, healthcare and healthcare services, Internet, mobile, outsourcing, and technology.

Sequoia Capital

Felicis Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California. The firm invests in seed through Series C stage companies across multiple sectors and industries reinventing core markets, as well as those creating frontier technologies. Felicis currently manages over $2B in capital across 8 funds. The firm is an early backer of more than 40 companies valued at $1B+. More than 90 of its portfolio companies have been acquired or gone public since the firm was founded by Aydin Senkut in 2006.

Felicis

SV Angel is a San Francisco-based venture fund. Their experience spans helping companies like Airbnb, Coinbase, Databricks, DoorDash, Faire, Flexport, GitHub, Notion, Pinterest, Snap, Square, and Stripe Scale. Over the last 30 years of investing, their core values of trust, loyalty, and integrity along with a founder-first approach have driven our strategy. They are a service organization, investing in founders who share these values. They support entrepreneurs in building lasting companies by assisting at key inflection points and leveraging networks to help them propel their businesses forward.

Lerer Hippeau is a seed-stage venture capital firm founded and operated in New York City. Since 2010, they have invested in entrepreneurs with great ideas who aren’t afraid to do hard things. Their portfolio includes more than 400 enterprise and consumer businesses including guideline, mirror, blockdaemon, K health, allbirds, zenbusiness, and thrive. They’re experienced operators who invest early and stay in their founders’ corners as they build iconic companies.

Lerer Hippeau

Morado Ventures is focused on high-growth, seed-stage technology companies, with particular emphasis on “Data-fueled” businesses. The firm currently invests in Artificial Intelligence, Data Infrastructure, Industrial Internet, Robotics & Autonomy, Computer Vision, and Health. Morado Ventures was founded in 2010 and is based in Palo Alto, California, United States.

Morado Ventures

Grape Arbor is an angel investor group comprised of friends who spend their professional lives in the technology and start-up space and pool their personal finances to make angel investments.    Since its founding in 2006, Grape Arbor LLC (directly or through affiliates) has made one or more investments into more than two dozen companies.  Grape Arbor has made investments in advertising/marketing online, web 2.0/social networking, financial services (tech and non-tech), and software/web-enhanced services.    While a number of investments have been into companies with products at the pre-beta stage, Grape Arbor has made one initial investment into a company which, at the time, had roughly $15MM of trailing 12 month revenue.    In general, however, Grape Arbor targets early stage companies with a little revenue (several hundred thousand to several million in trailing 12 month revenue).    All of the companies considered seriously had a clear strategy for attacking a large and rapidly growing addressable market as well as a strong (even if not complete) management team.  Grape Arbor has made investments in which co-investors have been: First Round Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Carlyle, Insight Venture Partners, Institutional Venture Partners, Vision Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Venrock, Kodiak Venture Partners and others.

Grape Arbor VC

VTF Capital is a seed stage venture fund investing in the future of commerce.  We invest capital and sweat into innovative ideas transforming how products are made, distributed and accessed.

VTF Capital

Visionnaire Ventures is a global technology investment firm focused on visionary people and ideas that can become world-class, market-leading companies. Based in San Francisco, California, with unparalleled global access, the team seeks out and funds innovative businesses anywhere in the world that are leveraging technology to evolve and create new Internet and mobile experiences. With the ability to fund companies across all stages from seed to growth, Visionnaire Ventures is focused on key market segments where novel ideas have the ability to become sea changes for people everywhere.  The Visionnaire Ventures team consists of seasoned entrepreneurs and executives who have founded and operated global internet, game and online media companies, and thus are able to support entrepreneurs companies as they build globally successful companies.  The team is currently seeking and funding companies active in diverse technology market segments including Commerce, Advertising, Mobile, Big Data, IoT.

Visionnaire Ventures

Rivas Capital is a private investment firm focused on long-term principal investments in breakthrough technology businesses.

Rivas Capital

Oakhouse Partners invests in companies that use breakthrough technologies to radically improve millions of lives. We believe mission-driven companies who better humanity on a global scale produce the best VC returns. Oakhouse Partners is no longer actively investing.

Oakhouse Partners

Tuesday Capital (formerly known as CrunchFund) is a seed stage focused venture firm that invests in information technology enabled companies. In 2019 CrunchFund was rebranded as Tuesday Capital.

Tuesday Capital

Andreessen Horowitz is a venture capital firm specializing in investing in seed, start-ups, early, mid-stage, growth, and late-stage. It prefers to invest in the social media business and technology sector with a focus on software, back-end infrastructure, the infrastructure of the Internet, cloud computing, enterprise software and services, consumer, business Internet, mobile-Internet, consumer Internet, cloud computing, data storage, social network browsers data-storage, consumer electronics, networking functions, software related biology, biotech, and medicine companies at the intersection of computer science and life sciences with a focus on digital therapeutics, cloud technology in biology, and computational medicine.

Andreessen Horowitz

Slow Ventures is a community built on the collective experience and fueled by curiosity, Slow understands the entrepreneurial journey. Investing at the center of technology and on the edges of science, society, and culture, Slow gives founders the resources, connections, experiences, and empathy required to build strong, sustainable companies.

Slow Ventures

Grishin Robotics is a VC firm based in Silicon Valley and London, currently investing its second early-stage fund. Founded in 2012, we have been one of the first to start supporting entrepreneurs in robotics, IoT, AI, smart hardware and associated software.

Grishin Robotics

AME Cloud Ventures focuses on seed to later stage companies building infrastructure and value chains around data. It specializes in technology-heavy companies gathering or creating unique data at every stage of the data stack — from infrastructure all the way to applications, mobile, and sensors.  It strives to find, fund, and support true entrepreneurs. The firm provides a unique and genuine set of resources to our founding teams, from strong operational and business experience to networks of amazing mentors and international partners, particularly in China. AME Cloud Ventures is the venture fund led by Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo!

AME Cloud Ventures

SGH Capital is a group of funds focusing on disruptive business models and creative entrepreneurs in the US, Europe, and India. SGH is agnostic and constantly enters new Technology verticals. The firm was founded in 2014 by Alexandre Azoulay and is headquartered in Luxembourg.

SGH CAPITAL

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. provides investment banking, securities, and investment management services, as well as financial services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Banking segment offers financial advisory services, including advisory assignments concerning mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense, risk management, and restructurings and spin-offs; and underwriting services comprising public offerings and private placements of a range of securities, loans, and other financial instruments, and derivative transactions. The company’s Institutional Client Services segment provides client execution services, such as fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution related to making markets in interest rate products, credit products, mortgages, currencies, and commodities; and equities related to making markets in equity products, as well as executes and clears institutional client transactions on stock, options, and futures exchanges. This segment also engages in the securities services business providing financing, securities lending, and other brokerage services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and foundations. Its Investing and Lending segment originates longer-term loans; and invests in debt securities, loans, public and private equity securities, real estate, consolidated investment entities, distressed assets, currencies, commodities, and power generation facilities. The company’s investment management segment provides investment products and services, as well as offers wealth advisory services, including portfolio management and financial counseling, and brokerage and other transaction services.

Goldman Sachs

Google Ventures supports innovative founders who are moving the world forwards. They invest across the life sciences, consumer, enterprise, crypto, climate, and frontier technology sectors. With Alphabet as its sole limited partner, GV operates on long time horizons and deals in decades, not rounds. Their operating partners help startups with company building across design, equity, diversity & inclusion, talent, and engineering. They also help startups interface with Google, providing unique access to the world’s best technology and talent. Launched as Google Ventures in 2009, GV has over $8 billion in assets under management and 400 active portfolio companies across North America and Europe. Notable investment outcomes include Uber, Nest, Slack, GitLab, Duo Security, Flatiron Health, Verve Therapeutics, and One Medical. GV is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices in Cambridge, New York, and London.

Google Ventures

TPG is a private investment firm that manages capital across a family of funds. TPG Capital is a private equity firm. The firm specializes in providing growth capital to firms in the consumer, healthcare, business services, internet, digital media & communications, software, and enterprise technology sectors. The company also makes real estate investments.

Toyota Tsusho Group is a trading company that provides manufactures and sells a range of steel goods. Warehousing, logistics services among other things, are provided by the Global Parts and Logistics business. Selling auto components, importing and exporting secondhand cars and their parts, and other activities are all part of the automotive division. The section responsible for the Machinery, Energy and Plant Project offers mechanical devices, different industrial machinery, petroleum products, and other things. Semiconductors, electronic devices, software, chemicals, resins, and other products are offered by the Chemical and Electronics Division.

Toyota Tsusho

Temasek Holdings is a lender provider. The company offers debt financing and focuses on transforming economies, increasing middle-income populations, developing comparative advantages, and emerging champions. Financial services, transportation, industrial, consumer, real estate, telecommunications, media, technology, and life sciences are among the industries served by the firm.

Temasek Holdings

Baillie Gifford is an independently owned investment management firm. It is owned and run by 39 of its senior executives, who operate as a partnership, a structure that has endured for over a century and provides stability for clients and motivation for employees. It enables them to manage the business for the future as well as the present, with an emphasis on genuine long-term thinking rather than lurching haplessly between short-term targets.

Baillie Gifford

Bright Success Capital is a family office fund based in Hong Kong that makes venture capital investments and provides strategic value

Bright Success Capital

The Index Project, formerly INDEX: Design to Improve Life, was born in 2002 and initially tasked with running a large-scale design award to further brand Denmark as a progressive design nation. While Denmark already had strong roots in design, we weren’t convinced that a traditional design award would have the impact we wanted. Our founder, Kigge Hvid, wanted to push the boundaries but, she wasn't exactly sure how. So, she went on a knowledge sabbatical — travelling the world, talking and listening. She met with designers, media, scientists, academics, artists and experts of design and innovation. And everyone, no matter who or where pointed to the potential of design to solve real needs in our society. That’s when our mission became clear: we need to redefine design from a commercially driven disciple to one that’s used to improve quality of life — for everyone. The first Index Award was launched in 2005, and like most award programs, was initiated to celebrate the world’s best and brightest within the field. But, little did we know, it would be so much more than that. The humble concept of design to improve life grew into a global movement. And now, people all over the world — from kids as young as six to celebrated visionaries — are using design to bring humanity forward. We’ve all come a long way since 2002 but, there’s still much further to go. Together, the world is facing countless critical problems, from cybersecurity to climate change, species extinction to social inequality. And now, more than ever, we need optimism and ingenuity. With the right knowledge and community, we can design a better future. But, we have to act now. The Index Project is a call to action. Are you in?  Each award cycle we receive hundreds, sometimes thousands, of nominations, which are boiled down to just five winners. But, (and it's a big one) while we believe it's important to celebrate the best, we don't believe the impact should stop there. The Index Award pipeline is an invaluable and ever-growing source of great solutions, regardless of winning status, that are ripe for investment — both human and financial. That's why we've gone beyond award-giving to invest.

The Index Project

The Rise Fund is committed to achieving social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. We seek to partner with creative entrepreneurs and build successful businesses that drive meaningful, measurable positive change. The Rise Fund will focus on investments in seven sectors in which independent research has shown that impact is both achievable and measurable in quantitative terms: education, energy, food and agriculture, financial services, healthcare, information, and communication technology, and industrials and infrastructure.

The Rise Fund

Katalyst Ventures is a venture fund investment firm. The firm seeks to invest in seed and early-stage companies operating in the digital health, fintech, enterprise software, and technology sectors.

Katalyst Ventures

SteelSky Ventures is an early stage fund investing in the future of Women’s Health. The fund is focused on investing in high growth companies that significantly improve access, care and outcomes in women’s health.

SteelSky Ventures

Empede Capital is a Venture Capital investor with a clear focus on innovation & industry disruption

Empede Capital

Fidelity is a privately-owned investment manager focusing on a diverse set of customers. It also provides IRAs, 401(k) rollovers, annuities, discount brokerage services, retirement services, estate planning, wealth management, securities execution and clearance, and life insurance services to its clients. Fidelity provides its services to individual investors, businesses, financial advisors, and institutions. It manages equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds. Fidelity invests in the public equity and fixed income markets across the globe. It conducts in-house research to make its investments.  It helps over 32 million people feel more confident in their most important financial goals, manage employee benefit programs for over 22,000 businesses, and support more than 13,000 financial institutions with innovative investment and technology solutions to grow their businesses. Headquartered in Boston, Fidelity serves its customers through 12 regional offices and more than 190 Investor Centers in the United States.

Fidelity

ECP is a private equity group dedicated to investing in Africa.  They are a pan-African private equity firm that has raised over US$2 billion for investment across the African continent, including the Francophone regions. They have put their investors’ capital to work in over 40 countries in all major regions of the continent, directly supporting over 50,000 jobs.

Emerging Capital Partners

Reinvent Capital is an investment firm that seeks to invest in the internet, software, and media companies. The firm partners with bold leaders of category-defining companies to help them grow and innovate at scale. It was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in New York.

Reinvent Capital

Intercorp is a business group committed to the development and well-being of Peruvian families. Intercorp operates to make Peru the best place to raise a family in Latin America.

Intercorp

Zipline

Zipline is a California-based automated logistics company that designs, manufactures, and operates drones to deliver vital medical products. Zipline's mission is to provide every human on Earth with instant access to vital medical supplies. In 2014, Zipline was created to deliver medicine to those who needed it. Since then, the company has built a quick delivery drone and an autonomous logistics network. Zipline designs and tests its technology in Half Moon Bay, California. The company assembles the drones and the technology that powers their distribution.

Zipline (formerly known as Romotive) is a drone-based medical supply delivery company based in California. It operates two drone delivery systems called “P1” and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17088">“P2 Zip.”</a> P1 can carry payloads of up to 5 lbs covering a 60-mile radius and dispatches cargo using a parachute. The P2 version is capable of carrying a maximum payload of eight lbs covering a 10-mile radius. Upon arrival at the destination, the P2 drone dispatches a droid on a tether to deliver the packages for retrieval (the commercial launch of P2 is expected in early 2024). Zipline’s drones use GPS navigation to travel and are also equipped with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10942">onboard acoustic detection and avoidance (DDA) systems.</a> Although Zipline is based in the US, its primary operations are in Rwanda, where it delivers medical supplies to remote health facilities on a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/86">24/7 basis.</a> Zipline also has ongoing or planned operations in Africa, the US, and Asia, and claims to have completed more than 600,000 commercial deliveries as of May 2023 (mostly in Africa), making it one of the most advanced startups in the drone delivery space.The company began US operations in 2018, with pilot tests in North Carolina. It received the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s approval to conduct commercial flights on a trial basis (Part 135 certification) <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11210">in June 2022,</a> and the approval to conduct beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21969">in September 2023.</a>&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsBeyond Zipline’s primary operations in Rwanda (conducted in partnership with the government), the company has been making drone-based medical deliveries in Ghana since 2019 in partnership with the Government and other parties. Zipline also has partnerships with three Nigerian state governments <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8151?industryIds=1">(as of January 2022),</a> the Ivory Coast’s Ministry of Health <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7099">(December 2021),</a> and Kenya’s Kisumu county government <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8606">(February 2022)</a> to make medical deliveries in their respective geographies.Zipline’s US operations include partnerships with Novant Health (May 2020; on a temporary basis), Walmart <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14">(since September 2020),</a> Cardinal Health <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6726">(November 2021),</a> Intermountain Healthcare <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6610">(November 2021),</a> Magellan Rx Management <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8230">(February 2022),</a> MultiCare <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11635">(July 2022),</a> Sweetgreen <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17298">(March 2023),</a> Michigan Medicine <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17160">(March 2023)</a> GNC, Pagliacci Pizza, Associated Couriers <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18411">(May 2023),</a> OhioHealth <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20650">(August 2023),</a> and Chip Cookines <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20712">(August 2023)</a> for various drone-based delivery projects including cities in North Carolina, Arkansas, Utah, Washington, Michigan, New York, and Ohio. The company also built a drone delivery and launch hub <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/58">in Pea Ridge, Arkansas,</a> on behalf of Walmart, commencing commercial deliveries <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6790">in November 2021.</a> The company also has a <a href="https://flyzipline.com/press/zipline-announces-pfizer-partnership/">June 2021</a> partnership with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer to deliver COVID-19 vaccines and to develop a system that can deliver any vaccine in the markets where it operates.Meanwhile, the company expanded its operations to Asia by partnering with the Indian state government of Maharashtra in September 2019, and in July 2020 with Medikabazaar, a B2B marketplace for medical equipment, to make drone-based deliveries within the state. The company also announced plans to enter the Philippines in December 2019. However, operations in both India and the Philippines have yet to commence as of May 2021. Zipline partnered with the Toyota Tsusho Corporation, a subsidiary of the Toyota Group and a Zipline investor, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/111">in March 2021,</a> to launch drone-based deliveries in Japan (went live <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9864">in April 2022).</a>Financials and fundingsight<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18078">In April 2023,</a> Zipline raised USD 330 million in a Series F funding round at a valuation of USD 4.2 billion. The company earmarked the funding for continued growth in operations including launching its new drone-based delivery service. Previously, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14833">in November 2022,</a> Zipline was awarded a grant from the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to conduct a feasibility study to expand its operations in West Africa.

Automation and robotics are finally creating solutions for the complexities of doorstep deliveries.

Last-mile Delivery Automation

<div>
 
 Zing Drone Delivery 
 offers an end-to-end drone delivery platform that works with DJI drones (a Chinese drone manufacturer). The platform comes with built-in software for precise landing, obstacle avoidance, and aircraft traffic detection. Drone pilots can team up with Zing to make deliveries with their own drones, while Zing undertakes the licensing and insuring of pilots. Customers can order food and over-the-counter (OTC) medication via Zing’s app and get the items delivered by a drone, while drone pilots earn USD 15 for each completed delivery. Its revenue model includes a monthly subscription fee and sales to pilots of custom delivery boxes that need to be attached to the drone at a cost of USD 80 per box. The company has a product development partnership with software company Airspace Link to integrate airspace awareness technology (December 2021). It also partnered with air traffic navigation service provider Skyway Technologies to install route planning and air navigation solutions for operations in Florida and beyond (January 2022; conducted first flights in Montverde, Florida 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10175">
 in May 2022).
 </a>
 
 
 In May 2020, with an initial group of 21 pilots, Zing launched its services in 21 cities across the US, including Miami, FL, Denver, CO, Columbia, SC, San Antonio, TX, Las Vegas, NV, and Encinitas, CA. In November 2020, the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) partnered with Zing to test package deliveries under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s BEYOND program.
 
 
 Key competitors: None comparable 
 (Zing Drone Delivery offers a drone delivery platform that works with DJI drones—does not make the drone itself)
 
</div>

Zing Drone Delivery

<div>
 
 DroneUp is a drone startup offering drone-based delivery services, construction, real estate monitoring, aerial data capturing, and marketing services utilizing drones. DroneUp was also awarded an Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Services Master Agreement in August 2019 allowing public sector institutions in the US to access DroneUp services. As of November 2020, nine states have signed Participating Addendums (PAs) for the service. The company announced plans to move away from other services, and primarily focus on last-mile delivery applications 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18602">
 in May 2023
 </a>
 &mdash;which also resulted in layoffs at the time.
 
 
 The company has operations in the US (including a 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12581">
 planned R&amp;D center in Virginia),
 </a>
 and announced plans to expand into Europe 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11637">
 in July 2022.
 </a>
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In June 2020, DroneUp launched its Operation Last-Mile project, in partnership with Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) to determine how unmanned aerial systems can be useful to make critical deliveries during a crisis under FAA regulations. DroneUp conducted drone-based deliveries in partnership with organizations including Walmart 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30">
 (since September 2020,
 </a>
 extended to launch multi-site operations in 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6834">
 November 2021
 </a>
 and to extend services across six states 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10658">
 in May 2022);
 </a>
 NUAIR (Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance), SUNY Upstate Medical University 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/161">
 (June 2021);
 </a>
 the City of Ontario and the real estate company Brookfield Properties 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4266">
 (July 2021);
 </a>
 Riverside Health System 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17938">
 (April 2023);
 </a>
 and Carilion Clinic 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19264">
 (June 2023).
 </a>
 
 
 DroneUp&rsquo;s complementary acquisitions in the space include AeroVista Innovations, to provide full-service drone training to organizations (April 2020); Web Teks, a UAS software developer that had been a contractor for DroneUp 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/103">
 (March 2021),
 </a>
 and AirMap, an airspace management software provider for drones 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7177">
 (December 2021).
 </a>
 DroneUp also has product partnerships with companies including 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/865380">
 A2Z Drone Delivery
 </a>
 to integrate the latter&rsquo;s tethered freefall drone delivery technology into DroneUp&rsquo;s drones 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/105">
 (March 2021);
 </a>
 South Korean company Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI) to test drones using hydrogen fuel cell technology 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17671">
 (April 2023);
 </a>
 Irsi Automation to integrate airspace awareness tech into its drones 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18258">
 (May 2023);
 </a>
 and Wonder Robotics to integrate precision technology for drone-based deliveries 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18344">
 (May 2023).
 </a>
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 DroneUp received an undisclosed amount of funds from Walmart 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/167">
 in June 2021,
 </a>
 to develop a scalable last-mile delivery solution.
 
</div>

DroneUp

Agility Robotics develops a human-sized, bi-pedal robot called “Digit” designed for logistics applications including last-mile delivery (LMD). It is the only company in the market with a product designed to look and move like a human, using two upper limbs to carry an item while moving around on two legs. The robot uses a head-mounted LiDAR system for its primary navigation and is able to navigate semi-autonomously, carrying weight up to 40 lbs. The company has a production facility is in Albany, Oregon.The company's first bi-pedal research robot, Cassie, was used commercially since 2017 but has been shut down due to the release of Digit. Digit was developed in partnership with Ford Motor Company and has been available commercially since January 2020, with shipping to customers beginning in July 2020. The company unveiled the second generation of Digit <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17182">in March 2023,</a> with plans to begin shipping to early customers in 2024 and a wider rollout in 2025 (price not disclosed). The company also planned to <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21927">open a manufacturing facility in Oregon</a> by late 2023 to mass-produce the units.Key customers and partnershipsThe company received its first order from Ford in January 2020 for two Digit robots. Since then, several other unnamed Fortune 100 companies have reportedly purchased the robots, primarily for warehouse automation rather than last-mile delivery.Funding and financials<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9899">In April 2022, </a>Agility Robotics raised USD 150 million in a Series B funding round led by DCVC and Playground Global to fast-track R&amp;D; ramp up production and delivery of its next-generation robot; double its team by 2024; open a new facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and expand its existing Oregon facilities and Palo Alto, California operations.Key competitors: None comparable (Agility Robotics is the only startup developing a humanoid robot for parcel delivery)

Agility Robotics

<div>
 
 Manna Drone Delivery (Manna) provides drone delivery as a service to restaurant chains, cloud kitchens, and online food delivery platforms. Using custom-developed aerospace-grade drones, it delivers directly from restaurants and centralized kitchens to consumer's homes. It flies at an altitude of 260 feet at a speed of more than 50 mph, delivering within a 1.2-mile radius in less than three minutes, carrying a payload of 4.4 lbs. In May 2021, Manna received the Irish Aviation Authority&rsquo;s (IAA) 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/62">
 &ldquo;Light UAS Operator Certificate&rdquo; (LUC),
 </a>
 available under EU drone regulations and recognized across the EU. With the certification, Manna can self-authorize operations without the need for further approvals.
 
 
 As of August 2022, Manna had completed around 100,000 test flights, serving around 45,000 eligible customers in Oranmore, Moneygall, and Balbriggan in Ireland. The company looks to 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12262">
 expand its reach
 </a>
 in Europe further and also announced plans to enter the US market 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17122">
 (Dallas, Texas)
 </a>
 in March 2023.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Its partners include Flipdish (signing up 1,000+ restaurants in Ireland; June 2019), 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/91">
 Just Eat
 </a>
 (signing up Camile Thai restaurant and Ben and Jerry&rsquo;s ice cream for deliveries at University College Dublin; since February 2020), Tesco (a six-month trial in Oranmore; September 2020), Camile Thai&rsquo;s (for deliveries in Oranmore in February 2021; extending from a February 2020 partnership), 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/106">
 Samsung Electronics
 </a>
 (for deliveries starting from Oranmore; March 2021), Coca-Cola (for deliveries in Oranmore; June 2021), and several other cafes, shops, and supermarkets in Moneygall and Balbriggan. It also partnered with multinational real estate developer Hillwood 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17122">
 in March 2023,
 </a>
 to launch the service in Dallas, Texas.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17122">
 In March 2023,
 </a>
 Manna received an undisclosed amount of funding from Coca-Cola HBC and entered into a strategic partnership with the same to expand its reach to the US market. Previously, in April 2021, Manna 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/136">
 raised EUR 20.7 million (USD 25 million)
 </a>
 in a Series A funding round led by Draper Esprit, with participation from DST Global, Team Europe, and existing investors Dynamo Ventures, Atlantic Bridge, and Elkstone. The cash is going toward scaling up manufacturing and research and expanding operations to the UK and the US by 2023. 
 
</div>

Manna Drone Delivery

<div>
 
 Dianomix is a Canadian startup that develops a last mile delivery droid called Robox. Olivier Aubin and Ali Asghari co-founded the company, the former being an ex-employee of Google and Waymo with experience designing autonomous vehicles. The droids can deliver products within a distance of around three miles, and the large cargo space equipped with automatic unloading allows multiple deliveries in a single run. The robots are also proven to be operational even under bad weather conditions such as rain and light snow.
 
 
 The company plans to deliver groceries and other items from retailers to locals in Calgary, Alberta. As of October 2020, the company is engaged in testing the delivery droids in the community of Discovery Ridge. Dianomix pitches the product to retailers directly, where they can subscribe to the service and get access to multiple delivery droids. Upon retailers loading the bots and tagging the delivery address, Dianomix will take over the last mile delivery.
 
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Dianomix Inc.

The solutions are electric and eco-friendly

Autonomous delivery solutions fall under Industry 4.0

All three types of delivery automation facilitate efficient and environmentally friendly solutions

Some companies use AI/ML tech for autonomous navigation.  (e.g., Goggo Network, Drone Express, Wayve)"

Refers to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that deliver packages. Drones are already in commercial use in many other industries (such as photography, construction, and agriculture). The use of drones for goods delivery has emerged with the gradual advancement of battery and connectivity technologies.

Zipline

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Commercial Drone Tech: Lifting off toward new heights

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