RattanIndia Enterprises’ investment in the drone space comes in the backdrop of the central government opening up the industry to the market
Marking its presence in the drone industry, RattanIndia Enterprises has announced that it will make a strategic investment in the US-based urban drone logistics platform Matternet.
With this investment, RattanIndia has forayed into the deep-tech Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) industry, which it believes is set to transform logistics ecosystems worldwide.
Founded in 2011 by Andreas Raptopoulos, the Silicon Valley-based Matternet counts Boeing, Mercedes-Benz, McKesson Ventures and Sony as investors.
It provides technology for on-demand, autonomous aerial delivery in urban environments and has garnered more revenue to date than any other UAV company from its operations in the US and Switzerland, according to a release.
Matternet currently provides its platform-as-a-service to companies in the fields of healthcare and logistics, RattanIndia said, adding together with its partners, Swiss Post, UPS and Japan Airlines (JAL), it serves numerous hospitals and pharmacy chains such as CVS, WakeMed Hospital, Wake Forest Baptist Health, EOC Lugano and University of Zurich Hospital.
Anjali Rattan, Business Chairperson, RattanIndia Enterprises, said, “We are highly impressed with the team and credentials of Matternet. The partnership with Matternet is in line with our philosophy of investing in new-age cleantech companies with tremendous growth potential. We share the government’s vision of drones as a future-tech, which opens new vistas of business opportunities”.
RattanIndia Enterprises’ investment in the drone space comes in the backdrop of the central government opening up the industry to the market.
Last month, the government released Draft Drone Rules, which are intended to ensure the ease of using drones in India based on “trust, self-certification and non-intrusive monitoring”.
The government is also planning to establish “drone corridors” for cargo deliveries and a drone promotion council to facilitate a drone-friendly regulatory regime.
“We are witnessing an inflexion point in urban drone delivery and are excited to partner with RattanIndia to explore opportunities in India.
“India is a country with numerous densely populated and congested cities, an ideal scenario for Matternet drones to bring greater reach, reliability and speed to healthcare and other everyday needs of the local population, while at the same time decreasing pollution and traffic,” Matternet CEO Andreas Raptopoulos said.
RattanIndia had earlier this month announced that its Board will meet on August 10 to consider and evaluate a proposal for strategic investment in a new-age business in an overseas company.
