Online food-delivery platform Swiggy chooses Four Startups To Pilot Drone-Based Grocery Delivery
- ByStartupStory | April 30, 2022
Online food delivery platform Swiggy has shortlisted 4 drone startups to pilot its grocery delivery project. The trials of the drone project will be conducted in two tranches, with the first pilot starting in Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR. ANRA+TechEagle Consortia, Marut Dronetech, Garuda Aerospace, and Skyeair Mobility are the four drone startups selected for the project.
The pilot will be entrusted with the task of evaluating the feasibility of using drones for the company’s grocery delivery service called Instamart. Drones will now be used to replenish stocks between seller-run dark stores and a ‘common customer point’.A dark store refers to a small fulfilment centre used to facilitate ultra-fast deliveries. The Foodtech company Swiggy said in a blogpost that a delivery partner will later pick up orders from the ‘common point’ and deliver them to the customer.
The first pilot is likely to be launched as early as next week to test the efficacy of drones in delivering food items. The second pilot by Marut Dronetech and ANRA+TechEagle will commence after collating the learnings from the first tranche. “Our main intent is to use valuable learnings from the first tranche and design a tranche two experiment to specifically address any shortcomings that are identified,” the food delivery giant said.
Swiggy had also floated a Request for Proposal (RFP) a few weeks ago for this project. The company said it had received 345 registrations in response to the proposal. The four startups were selected after an evaluation process covering technical, legal as well as rounds.
The announcement comes at a time when many e-commerce and logistic services players have been seeking permissions and working on strategies to launch drone-based services in their respective areas.
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