Israeli startup FlightOps will provide operating systems for the fleet of drones, which will inaugurate food and grocery deliveries from US retail giant Walmart to American households, in the next six months.
The project, which will begin before the end of the year, will encompass Walmart branches in Arizona, Florida, Arkansas, Texas, Utah and Virginia and will involve a total of 150-300 drones. The fleet of drones will be operated by US company DroneUp, which will operate the service using FlightOps software.
Based in Herzliya Pituah, FlightOps was founded by CEO Shay Levy and a group of former officers in the Israel Air Force and ex-employees of Israel Aerospace Industries. The company, which raised $1.5 million from its founders and a $1.3 million grant from the Israel Innovation Authority, has 25 employees. FlightOps is in the midst of raising another financing round.
In contrast to other Israeli companies in the sector like Aerobotics, Percepto and Flytrex, FlightOps does not market the drone itself but installs the operating system in a range of on-the-shelf drone models used in military applications such as DJI's Matric series, Alpha's unmanned helicopter systems, the military drones of Aero-Sentinel, and the drones of Prism. Also in contrast to other companies in the drone sector, FlyOps can adapt itself to different types of missions ranging from securing installations, emergency and rescue to grocery deliveries.
FlightOps software engine manages the drone's flight path, while keeping its distance from prohibited and dangerous areas and adjusting the flight path to in coordination with other drones from the same fleet. The software manages takeoff and landing including emergency landings, and can overcome problems like disruption in cellular communications.
FlightOps does not have an exclusive agreement with DroneUp, which is entitled to work with other software providers, while FlightOps is permitted to work with other drone fleets and it already has agreements with other service providers including Canada's Volatus Aerospace. FlightOps has a cooperation agreement with chipmaker Qualcomm.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 19 2022.
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