UL’s new Immersive Software Engineering programme is the result of a collaboration between the university and cutting-edge tech companies to give students experience of real world environments
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Manna has raised $25 million to expand its drone fleet’s operations, including the addition of delivery services for prescription medical supplies and an initial expansion into the U.S.
A Manna Aero drone delivers a parcel during a flight demonstration in Dublin, Ireland. Photographer: Paulo Nunes dos Santos/Bloomberg
The Series A round was led by venture capital firm Draper Esprit and drew participation from Team Europe as well as existing investors Dynamo Ventures, Atlantic Bridge and Elkstone, the Irish company said in a statement on Thursday.
The startup which designs, builds and operates drones to deliver restaurant food, groceries and pharmacy goods in suburban areas said it will use the funds to scale its fleet and begin delivering prescription medical supplies. Manna’s drones can make a delivery in less than three minutes and the company says a single employee can manage multiple drones to make about 20 drop offs an hour.
Delivery drones to replace gig-economy cyclists, says Manna Aero founder Bobby Healy says bicycle deliveries jobs lead to a high number of accidents and are ‘not good for the person doing it’ 13th April, 2021
Bobby Healy, founder of Manna Aero: ‘Those gig-economy jobs that involve young men and women on bicycles carrying hamburgers around will reduce, if not fully go away.’ Picture: Andrew Downes
The bicycle delivery business will face an uphill struggle in a new era of drone technology, according to the founder of Manna Aero, the Irish drone delivery company.
Bobby Healy said competitors using gig-economy cyclists for deliveries would be under pressure from drones in the near future. But he said this would be a positive development as “everything about” delivering food and goods by bicycle was “not good for the person doing it”..