News Update

Delhivery acquires Transition Robotics Inc

• ByStartupStory     |    December 9, 2021

Logistics service provider Delhivery said Wednesday it had acquired California-based Transition Robotics Inc (TRI), a company focused on developing unmanned aerial system (UAS) platforms.

The announcement comes at a time when India is taking steps towards allowing the delivery of goods through drones.

A decade-old company, TRI has focused on taking novel vertical-takeoff UAS with advanced flight capabilities to market. In 2015, the company unveiled the JumpShip, a fully autonomous platform allowing commercial operators to combine the operational flexibility of multirotor with the efficient, fast flight of fixed-wing aircraft.

Delhivery will get access to all intellectual property registered in the US to TRI with this transaction, strengthening its capabilities in a wide range of applications, including aerial photography, remote sensing, inspection, and surveys.

Speaking on the development, Kapil Bharati, Chief Technology Officer, Delhivery, said, “While we continue to build our supply chain platform, we must look at the long-term developments poised to shape the industry. Bringing TRI onboard gives us a chance to get directly involved with core Drone Technology as regulations and use cases for drones are evolving in the country.”

India liberalised the norms for operating civilian drones in the country. However, certain entities have been permitted by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to run pilot tests on the delivery of vaccines to the hinterland using drones.

Separately, in September, the Ministry of Civil Aviation notified the airspace map for operations of drones, with an aim to establish a different air traffic management system for unmanned aerial vehicles — taking the first steps towards allowing beyond visual line of sight drone operations — deemed necessary for the delivery of goods.

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