Flirtey has completed the first drone delivery in the history of Silicon Valley, delivering a pair of socks and a Save the Date Invitation to one of its investors during Menlo Ventures’ 40th annual meeting at The Rosewood hotel on Sand Hill Road.
Flirtey says the delivery drone flew autonomously and was monitored by a Flirtey employee from the hotel’s parking lot. No human intervention was needed.
“Completing drone deliveries in the heart of Silicon Valley demonstrates that Flirtey is poised to take drone delivery to the mainstream consumer market in urban centers all across the U.S. and around the globe,” says Flirtey CEO Matthew Sweeny.
Flirtey has been at the forefront of the drone delivery industry, especially here in the United States, making four other historic drone deliveries.
On July 17, 2015, Flirtey completed the first FAA-approved drone delivery by flying medical supplies from the Lonesome Pine Airport to the Remote Area Hospital in Wise County, Virginia.
In March 2016, Flirtey completed the first FAA-approved urban drone delivery in US history when it delivered a package to a residential area in Hawthorne, Nevada.
In June 2016, Flirtey completed the first ship-to-shore drone delivery in US history, delivering medical supplies from a vessel to an onshore medical camp in Cape May, New Jersey.
And in July 2016, Flirtey partnered with 7-Eleven for the first FAA-approved home drone delivery. The Flirtey drone autonomously delivered Slurpees, a chicken sandwich, donuts, hot coffee and candy to the home of the family who placed the order.
Flirtey also partnered with Domino’s Pizza to deliver pizza by drone to customers in Auckland, New Zealand. The delivery drones keep the pizzas pipping hot after they are loaded onto the drones at the store. The drones then fly at around 200 feet in the air and the customer is notified as the delivery is approaching.
Flirtey does, of course, have a lot of competition in the drone delivery space in the US. In September 2016, Project Wing announced a partnership with Chipotle to use its drones to deliver burritos to students at Virginia Tech. Project Wing boss Dave Vos has since stepped down, but test flights went off without a hitch. CyPhy Works is working with UPS on delivery drones, California-based Zipline is using drones to deliver blood in Rwanda, and don’t forget about a little drone delivery initiative called Amazon Prime Air.
