Matternet uses drones to transport usually particularly vulnerable objects weighing up to 2 kg in urban areas and within a radius of up to 20 km.
The technology of the high-tech drone of Matternet “lands” in Greece, a company founded in Silicon Valley by Andreas Raptopoulos and which is active in the highly emerging branch of drone delivery in Europe, North America and the Middle East.
According to kathimerini.gr, the company uses drones for the transport and delivery – usually particularly vulnerable (drugs, samples for diagnostic tests) – of objects weighing up to 2 kg within urban areas and within a radius of up to 20 km. transport of small items, as in addition to the drone itself has proceeded to the creation of a cloud-based platform as well as take-off / landing stations that act as charging points for the drones.
The company is invested in the “Phaistos” fund, which supports companies that develop solutions around 5G technology. A development that shows the prospect of Matternet to take advantage of the speeds and shorter response times offered by fifth generation networks. This would help the drones communicate with the ground station, contributing to their best possible direction (flight control). The company’s drones have already flown 20,000 commercial flights to 8 cities in the US, Switzerland, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, and are already being used to transport vulnerable items to health facilities in Switzerland, helping to ease traffic congestion in urban centers. It is also estimated that they will serve 100 destinations in Abu Dhabi by delivering 3 million deliveries of medical supplies to the city’s units.
Apart from abroad, Matternet is expected to develop research and development activities in Greece for the design of its products, through the establishment of its subsidiary in Greece, Matternet Europe. Matternet Europe will be responsible for all its activities in Europe, will be housed in the technology park “Lefkipos” of NCSR “Demokritos” and will collaborate with the scientific team of Media Networks Lab.
In the meantime, it is not ruled out that Matternet drones will fly in the Greek skies in the long run, however, there is still no mature legal framework, something that is being worked out by the Ministry of Digital Government. This intention was announced by Mr. Raptopoulos speaking in one of the podcasts of Endeavor Greece, “Outliers”. He revealed that he was “looking” at the Greek market and that the next vehicle of the company will have enough flexibility to move comfortably between the islands. The company, which was founded in 2011, has so far “raised”, according to data from Crunchbase, more than $ 30 million from large companies, including Boeing, Sony, Mercedes-Benz but and the Swiss Post. It is noted that Matternet cooperates with the American courier company UPS for the transport of medicines and blood samples, as well as with the Swiss postal service Swiss Post. Its drones have also been used by organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and Médecins Sans Frontières to deal with emergencies in Africa, Central America and Asia.
As for the “Phaistos” fund, about 60 days after the announcement of its establishment, it made its debut in the investment market through this investment. “Phaistos” is estimated to manage a total of over 100 million euros, of which 93 million euros are part of the revenue from the tender for the allocation of the spectrum and the development of 5G. The rest concerns private funds (Deutsche Telekom, family office M. Latsi and family office D. Daskalopoulos).
