In a move towards drone-based food delivery in India Zomato on Wednesday said it has acquired Lucknow-based startup TechEagle Innovations, for an undisclosed amount.
TechEagle was founded in 2015 by IIT Kanpur alumni Vikram Singh Meena during his college days. It works with a prime focus on custom-made drones capable of carrying up to 5 kg payloads.
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TechEagle will help in creating a hub-to-hub delivery network powered by hybrid multi-rotor drones, Zomato said in a statement. The company, however, did not share any financial details of the acquisition.
Commenting on the development, Zomato Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal said, “We are currently at the early stage of aerial innovations and are taking baby steps towards building a tomorrow wherein users can expect a drone to deliver the food they ordered online.
“We believe that robots powering the last mile delivery is an inevitable part of the future and hence is going to be a significant area of investment for us, Goyal said.
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Food delivery business currently contributes about 65% to the overall revenue of the company, Zomato said. The company has over 75,000 restaurant partners offering food delivery services across 100 cities in India.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) recently legalised flying commercial drones and also announced a policy called Drone Regulations 1.0. While these guidelines banned the use of drones for delivery of goods and food, on September 19, minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha hinted at including a clause on the application of drones for ecommerce and food delivery in the draft Drone Regulations 2.0.
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