Aviant launches drone home delivery service Kyte
The company has also received €1 million in public funding to deliver prescription medicines
Norwegian drone logistics company Aviant has launched its home delivery service, Kyte, which is capable of delivering non-prescription medicines, as well as groceries and takeaway food, to sparsely populated areas and holiday homes in Norway.
Additionally, the company has been granted a further €1 million of public funding from Innovation Norway to autonomously deliver prescription medicines directly from pharmacies to people in remote and suburban areas, where mobility can be challenging due to long distances, bad roads or severe weather.
Aviant was founded in 2020, and throughout the pandemic the drones transported Covid-19 tests and blood samples between district hospitals and central hospitals.
“Our technology proved critical for rural healthcare services during the pandemic, where winter road closures meant our drones were the only link between Covid-19 test sites and laboratories in Central Norway,” said Lars Erik Fagernæs, Founder and CEO at Aviant. “Now, with the launch of Kyte and our funding from Innovation Norway, Luminar Ventures, and Bring Ventures, we are able to provide people in remote and hard-to-reach areas with the groceries and medical supplies they need, directly to their doorstep, with no traffic restrictions and minimal climate emissions.”
The drones can fly as far as 120km in a straight line. This increased efficiency and speed means Kyte’s delivery range is higher than other airborne door delivery services, able to deliver within a 30km radius for return flights.
Customers can request delivery through the Kyte app, where they can choose from various groceries, ready meals, and light medicines. Once the order is placed, the drones are loaded with the ordered items at Kyte’s home base before they autonomously deliver the package and return to base.
Aviant is certified under EU regulations to operate autonomous flights within the union.
Other countries are beginning to use drone delivery for medications, such as the UAE, who recently trialed this type of delivery.
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