As Walmart advances its on-demand delivery capabilities with plans to launch a drone delivery pilot at a Bentonville, Ark. store, the retail giant has made a strategic investment in drone startup DroneUp. “Conducting drone deliveries at scale is within reach” said John Furner, CEO and President of Walmart U.S. in a statement, citing the retailer’s large retail footprint and investments in the technology.
The partnership with DroneUp began in 2020 when Walmart worked with the company to deliver hundreds of at-home COVID-19 self-collection kits from Walmart stores. The new investment will further advance the companies’ work on developing scalable last-mile drone delivery.
DroneUp operates an on-demand drone delivery network with more than 10,000 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-certified pilots nationwide. The company operates commercially throughout the U.S. and is an authorized government drone services provider for 11 states.
“Walmart already has a significant part of the infrastructure in place – 4,700 stores stocked with more than 100,000 of the most-purchased items, located within 10 miles of 90% of the U.S. population,” said Furner in a statement. “This makes us uniquely positioned to execute drone deliveries, which is why our investment in DroneUp won’t just apply to the skies but also the ground.”
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The retailer’s ground-based delivery investments include a partnership with autonomous electric delivery vehicle startup Cruise that has been used in a delivery pilot in Scottsdale, Ariz. The retailer also is working with Gatik for temperature-controlled deliveries in Arkansas and Louisiana and with Udelv to deliver fresh groceries in Surprise, Ariz.
