16 March, St. Patrick’s Day eve, Washington DC, following successful operations in Ireland, Manna is commencing a trial in Dallas/Ft.Worth area in partnership with multinational real estate development company Hillwood, to initially offer drone delivery to a select number of Hillwood’s residential developments. Hillwood is the developer of AllianceTexas, a 27,000-acre mixed-use, master-planned community and home to the Mobility Innovation Zone. Manna has created a plan to make lightning-fast drone delivery service available to over 10,000 local residents, pending suitable approvals from the FAA.
“As the division of Hillwood that creates a community for generations of Texas families, innovation is one of our guiding principles when we envision and develop Lifestyle by HillwoodSM communities,” said Fred Balda, president of Hillwood Communities. “We are excited to partner with Hillwood’s Mobility Innovation Zone team and Manna to use new technologies and bring innovation direct to our families’ doorstep.”
“We’re excited to work with Manna as a key operator at the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone, where they can scale and commercialize drone delivery in one of the world’s most unique environments,” said Christopher Ash, senior vice president of aviation business development for Hillwood. “At Hillwood, we are a team collaborating to bring innovative supply chain technologies to North Texas and provide next-level amenities to the communities we reach.”
This move comes in tandem with a strategic investment in Manna Drone Delivery from Coca-Cola HBC, strategic bottling partner of The Coca-Cola Company. Through its Ventures arm, Coca-Cola HBC, collaborates with disruptive start-ups that have synergies with its business ambitions in the areas of last mile, vending, coffee technology and sustainability.
Manna is on a mission to improve the world by making lightning-fast suburban deliveries affordable, green and safe. Manna, the world’s leading independent drone delivery startup designs, builds and operates unmanned aerial vehicles that perform high-speed deliveries of up to 3.5 kgs (7lbs) in high-density suburban last-mile settings.
On the partnerships Bobby Healy CEO and Founder of Manna said, “We are delighted to partner with two major brands, Coca-Cola HBC and Hillwood on our journey to bring a new form of delivery to suburban homes and as we start to scale globally. Working with Hillwood who develop technology-forward, innovative lifestyle communities and with Coca-Cola HBC who are committed to more sustainable and advanced delivery solutions is testament to the realisation that last mile delivery can be done in a more efficient, safer and greener way.”
With this partnership and investment, Coca-Cola HBC is at the forefront of revolutionising the route to market. It also supports Coca-Cola HBC’s commitment to achieve net zero emissions across its value chain by 2040, investing in this delivery method that has been proven to emit up to eight times less CO2 compared to car delivery*.
For Manna, the strategic partnership will provide insights and expertise from a market leading beverage company, and over time, the two organisations will work to identify opportunities for Manna to scale across Coca-Cola HBC’s territories.
Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO, Coca-Cola HBC said; “Our investment in Manna Drone Delivery, one of the most innovative drone delivery start-up companies in the world, encapsulates our ambition to deliver our products in new and more sustainable ways. We are excited about this partnership which allows us to be at the forefront of disruptive technologies across the worldwide consumer packaged goods (CPG) market. Furthermore, with up to eight times less* CO2 compared to car delivery, this partnership with Manna Drones is another step in our journey to achieve net zero emissions across our value chain by 2040.”
Manna is currently serving a Dublin suburb, where the population of 35,000 can be supported with up to 280 deliveries a day and it recently confirmed that it will expand soon to another Dublin suburb, with a population of over 100,000. Making it the largest drone delivery operation in Europe.
Manna is working with the FAA to earn approvals that leverage Manna’s strong progress and demonstrated regulatory success with EASA, Europe’s aviation regulator.
On the announcement – Leo Varadkar, An Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) “Congratulations to Manna, an Enterprise Ireland client company, on entering the US market, marking the beginning of their global expansion. Manna is a great example of Irish innovation, transforming industries and partnering with global brands. I wish them every success for this new venture.”
adding “I really love to see Irish companies like Manna growing at home and then going global. The fact that Manna is now a foreign direct investor in the US is further evidence that our economic relationship with America is a two-way street”
To date Manna has raised over $40m from investors such as Enterprise Ireland, Molten Ventures, Partners of DST Global ffVC, Dynamo Ventures, and Tapestry VC, CCHBC Ventures, Radius Capital.
Ends
*Manna commissioned a study with the University of Maynooth, which set out to compare the amount of carbon emitted during drone delivery to terrestrial forms of delivery, including cars, motorbikes and electric bikes, and whether drones were the cleanest, most efficient means of last mile delivery. This study showed that Manna’s drone emitted between 6 & 8 times less C02 than a small petrol car (1.4L engine) and that although e-bikes may emit slightly less carbon dioxide, they take twice as long as drones to complete deliveries. You can view the full study here.
About Coca-Cola HBC and Coca-Cola HBC Ventures
Coca-Cola HBC is a growth-focused consumer packaged goods business and strategic bottling partner of The Coca-Cola Company. We create value for all our stakeholders by supporting the socio-economic development of the communities in which we operate, and we believe building a more positive environmental impact is integral to our future growth. Together, we and our customers serve 715 million consumers across a broad geographic footprint of 29 countries. Our portfolio is one of the strongest, broadest and most flexible in the beverage industry, offering consumer-leading beverage brands in the sparkling, juice, water, sport, energy, plant-based, ready-to-drink tea, coffee, adult sparkling and premium spirits categories. These beverages include Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Schweppes, Kinley, Costa Coffee, Valser, Römerquelle, Fanta, Sprite, Powerade, FuzeTea, Dobry, Cappy, Monster and Adez. We foster an open and inclusive work environment amongst our 33,000 employees and we are ranked among the top sustainability performers in ESG benchmarks such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, CDP, MSCI ESG and FTSE4Good.
Through its Ventures arm, Coca-Cola HBC partners with disruptive start-ups in its geographical footprint and beyond and seeks ideas that address the challenges it strives to overcome. The start-up solutions must be relevant to its industry and aligned with its focus areas of Last Mile (B2B, direct to consumer, logistics, customer connections), vending and touchless technology; coffee technology and equipment; and sustainable packaging and climate change. Coca-Cola HBC Ventures invests in the potential of these start-ups and offers a testing ground for ideas, validating and building credibility for their concepts.
For more information, visit Coca-ColaHellenic.com.
About Manna:
Manna is the world’s first aviation-grade B2B drone delivery ‘as-a-service’ company. The Manna drone fleet is operated by Manna directly from the restaurant or dark kitchen premises and is accessible via API to food tech providers and online food platforms alike in a channel-agnostic manner. One fleet for all demand.
Manna is licensed by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) with a ‘light UAS operator certificate’ (LUC). Manna received the first (LUC) for commercial drone delivery issued by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) & European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), opening up Europe-wide opportunities for the company. Manna also worked with the Irish Government and national health service (HSE) on a pilot test delivering medication to those who needed it to demonstrate the applications of drone delivery.
Manna fly custom-developed aerospace grade drones to deliver products directly to customer’s homes with an average flight time of just three minutes. The drones fly at an altitude of 50-80 metres and at a speed of over 60kph. To date Manna has raised over €40m from investors such as Molten Ventures, Tapestry VC, Partners of DST Global, Dynamo Ventures, ffVC and others.
About AllianceTexas
Developed by Hillwood, AllianceTexas is an unparalleled regional success story that has transformed the North Texas economy and connected the area to global industry. Consisting of 27,000 acres, the development is anchored by the world’s first dedicated industrial airport, Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport (AFW), and hosts one of the nation’s premier intermodal hubs. Today, AllianceTexas is home to 562 companies that have created more than 66,000 direct jobs and have approximately 55 million square feet of developed commercial real estate assets. The development’s cumulative impact since 1989 is an estimated $111.5 billion for the North Texas region. For additional information, please visit www.alliancetexas.com.
The AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone (MIZ) spans the 27,000-acre industrial-focused, public-private ecosystem that brings policymakers and industry innovators together to propel surface and air mobility forward. By leveraging its one-of-a-kind infrastructure, the MIZ offers unparalleled resources to comprehensively scale and commercialize the latest logistics and mobility technologies. For more information on the AllianceTexas MIZ and how your organization can be part of this industry-shaping environment, visit www.alliancetexasmiz.com.
About Hillwood Communities
Through its Communities division, Hillwood has delivered close to 50,000 single-family lots in more than 100 master-planned communities across 13 states and 2 countries. These communities continue to raise the bar in terms of quality, innovation, and the unmistakable sense of community that sets each property apart. Before laying the physical groundwork for any new residential development, Hillwood Communities takes the time to focus on the ideals that draw people together — and the everyday interactions that strengthen those bonds. By purposefully designing its walkways, gathering spaces, and structural amenities to spark spontaneous encounters and foster shared interests, Hillwood Communities believes in the power of community. For more information, visit?www.hillwoodcommunities.com.