Drone Delivery Canada receives first approval for Moose Cree project funding

Cargo drone delivery operator Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) received its first conditional approval for funding of its Moose Cree First Nation project, announced a year ago this month, DDC said in a statement on Tuesday.

The project is designed to deploy DDC’s drone delivery platform within Moose Cree First Nation communities in Ontario. The project is also the first stage in the “remote communities” market segment DDC aims to grow over the next few years. In its 2018 statement, DDC estimated that Canada has about 1,000 such remote communities facing infrastructure and logistics challenges. The company aims to utilize its Sparrow drones, capable of carrying a 5-kilogram payload, for the transport of goods including letters, general parcels, medical supplies and other similar items between communities.

The project is expected to generate revenue of CA$2.5 million during the first year of operations, with the potential to expand services beyond that. Implementation of the service is scheduled for the first quarter of 2020.

Michael Zahra, DDC’s president and CEO, said in a statement that the approval is the first for “one of many remote community opportunities we are pursuing.” He added, “Looking ahead to 2020, DDC will actively seek to close more customers in many different business verticals both in Canada and abroad.”

Given the pace at which DDC has announced new agreements in 2019, additional projects soon would not be surprising. After signing an agreement in June, under which Air Canada Cargo would begin marketing DDC’s drone and delivery services in Canada, the drone delivery operator announced it would begin using its platform at DSV’s new head office and warehouse in Milton, Ontario, and will also establish a drone delivery hub at Edmonton International Airport (YEG) – the first such hub at a major airport.