Drone Startup Skye Air Bags Funding To Offer First & Last-Mile Logistics Services

Drone startup Skye Air has raised around $1.7 Mn in seed funding round led by Chiratae Ventures. 

Lead Angels, O2 Angels, Agility Ventures, LetsVenture and angel investors including Rajeev Chitrabhanu, Ankit Nagori, Varun Alagh, Gautam Badalia and Ayush Lohia, among others also have participated in the round. 

Founded in 2018 by Swapnik Jakkampudi, Ankit Kumar and Chandra Prakash, the Gurugram-based startup offers first and last-mile drone delivery services to various industries including healthcare, ecommerce, quick commerce and agri-commodity, among others.

Skye claims to have carried out 2200 beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone deliveries of more than 720K packages so far. 

“We are excited to partner with Skye Air Mobility to disrupt the first & last mile logistics in an efficient and climate-friendly manner, beginning with the Healthcare domain and expanding into other sectors with its logistics and SaaS solutions,” said Mandeep Julka, vice-president – Investments, Chiratae Ventures.

Skye said that it is presently operating in 8 cities of India and further aims to expand to 16 Indian cities in the coming 24 months.

The startup will use the fresh capital to expand its services and collaborate with other entities in the domestic market. The fund will further be used to grow the customer base.

“At Skye Air, our core aim is to enable change, bring the much-needed disruption in the first & last-mile logistics industry to move faster and more efficiently. Skye Air is proactively working in the healthcare, quick commerce and ecommerce verticals enabling solutions for faster and cost-effective deliveries,” said Kumar.

Skye’s clientele includes Flipkart, Dunzo, Swiggy, Redcliffe Labs, Aster Healthcare, Blue Dart and Curefoods, among others.

The startup aims to offer sustainable, cost-effective and efficient drone deliveries across industries and also help reduce TAT for businesses. It further claims to have carried out a BVLOS medicine delivery flight with Flipkart Health covering a distance of 104 kms in West Bengal. 

According to a report, India’s drone sector accounted for 4.25% share in the global market, which was pegged at $28.47 Bn in the financial year 2021-22.

Reliance-backed Asteria Aerospace, Adani-backed General Aeronautics, Ocgrow Ventures-backed Garuda Aerospace and Coromandel International-backed Dhaksha Unmanned Systems are some of the drone startups working in this space.