Drone Delivery Canada (CVE:FLT) Launches Cargo Capacity Condor Drone

Drone Delivery Canada Corp (CVE:FLT) (OTCMKTS:TAKOF) (FRA:ABB) is a drone development and delivery company that is commercializing its technology to provide logistical solutions for remote communities and government agencies. CEO Tony Di Benedetto shares details of the company’s latest drone, the Condor, which has a 400-pound payload capacity. Di Benedetto emphasizes that this cargo model is a game changer for Drone Delivery Canada as the company can move from small parcel delivery to providing true cargo capacity solutions. Drone Delivery Canada is beginning its commercial operations this year and wants to capture 20 percent of Canada’s remote community market over the next five years. Drone Delivery Canada has a $2.5 million pilot project with the Moose Cree First Nation to provide drone delivery infrastructure for the communities of Moosonee and Moose Factory.

Transcript:

Narrator: Drone Delivery Canada is a drone technology company focused on the design, development and implementation of a drone delivery system. The company’s platform will be used by government and corporations.

Today, the company unveiled its largest cargo and farthest range delivery drone, the Condor.

With a payload capacity of 180 kilograms, and a potential travel distance of up to 200 kilometres, the Condor pushes the limits in both cargo capacity and distances. The cargo is powered by a next-generation gas propulsion engine.

Drone Delivery Canada is a publicly traded company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol FLT.

James West:   And joining me now is Tony DiBenedetto – why am I having trouble with that? He’s the CEO and founder of Drone Delivery Canada. Tony, welcome back. This is not our first rodeo, is it?

Tony DiBenedetto:  I know, it’s not. Thanks for having me, James.

James West:   Of course, it’s my pleasure. Now, big news today, or currently, for Drone Delivery Canada, Tony, is the fact that you guys have launched this Condor cargo capacity drone now!

Tony DiBenedetto:  Correct.

James West:   What is that going to do?

Tony DiBenedetto:  It’s, well, it’s a game-changer for us. You know, for us, the success we’ve had is this crawl-walk-run approach working with the Federal regulator. We started with 10 pounds, went to 25-pound cargo capacity, 50 pounds, and now we’re at 400 pounds. So this is a game-changer; it moves us away from little, small parcels to more of a cargo operations capability, which is ground-breaking for us.

James West:   Mm-hmm, interesting. So now, what kind of clients are going to use this service?

Tony DiBenedetto:  So we’re starting commercially this year with remote communities. In Canada, we have about 1,000 remote communities; our goal is to penetrate 20 percent – sorry, 200 communities, yeah, 20 percent, in the next five years. We have an agreement today with the Ministry of First Nations, about $2.5 million a year, and we’re going to be starting commercially with our Sparrow drone, which is our 10-pound cargo capacity unit. And then eventually, once we get through the testing and the regulatory requirements, is to bring in the larger capacity drones into areas.

James West:   Okay, and sorry, what was the capacity of it, the payload?

Tony DiBenedetto:  400 pounds.

James West:   400 pounds. So you could basically deliver a small tractor with that.

Tony DiBenedetto:  Yeah, absolutely.

James West:   I mean, a really small one.

Tony DiBenedetto:  Yeah, so it’s 400 pounds and can travel 200 kilometres, and it’s gas-powered.

James West:   Wow. So, interestingly, the reason that remote communities want to use this is because it’s more expensive for them to import goods and services from population centres using traditional aircraft.

Tony DiBenedetto:  In Canada’s northern communities, the big problem is logistics. There are no roads, there are no bridges, there is no gravel, there is no asphalt; it’s very desolate. It’s very, very expensive to move goods into these communities, and even though once they even show up, is how do you distribute the goods?

So we look at our solution as an infrastructure solution. Our business is not really about trying to move a pizza to someone’s front door two minutes fast in an urban area; maybe at one point in time it’ll get there, but really, the way we see our business starting is as an infrastructure platform for northern Canada as a starting ground. And then take this technology and export it all around the world where there’s many places that have the same problem.

James West:   Sure. So places, remote areas that have logistics issues typically are not serviced by the likes of FedEx and Amazon, etcetera, because it’s not profitable for them to service those areas using traditional logistics solutions like trucks and planes.

Tony DiBenedetto:  Correct.

James West:   This makes it much more cheaper?

Tony DiBenedetto:  100 percent. So in these communities, they rely on aircraft hauling in goods, or helicopter slung loads; we’ve seen snowmobiles, ATVs, snowshoes. That’s how goods move around in these communities, and because of this, because there’s lack of efficiencies, the costs for these fellow Canadians to live is very, very high.

So this technology brings the costs down, it’s just in time, and it’s very flexible and scalable.

James West:   So in some cases, I imagine that in case of, let’s say, for example, critical medicines for people who are ill, this can actually be a life-saving differentiator for remote communities where getting a certain drug within a certain time frame means the difference between life and death.

Tony DiBenedetto:  Sure. 100 percent. So last summer, we did a variety beyond visual line of sight flight tests with Transport Canada in this community, and along with it came Health Canada, and we moved I believe about 400 dry blood spot samples within the community. So that’s a game-changer even for the health agency; trying to move that much blood in such a short amount of time for literally pennies on the dollar.

James West:   Now, you said the existing relationship you have with the Moose Cree Indian Band, I think you said?

Tony DiBenedetto:  Moose Cree First Nations.

James West:   Moose Cree First Nations. So that’s a $2.5 million a year proposition?

Tony DiBenedetto:  Correct.

James West:   And you’re going after 200 more communities within the next five years.

Tony DiBenedetto:  Five years.

James West:   That’s a big number if the average revenue from each of those is going to be 2.5 million a year.

Tony DiBenedetto:  It’s $500 million a year.

James West:   Wow.

Tony DiBenedetto:  And because we are really, we’re a software company; it’s a software as a services platform, we build the intelligence to make this happen, we operate at a high EBITDA margin. We’re looking at about 60 percent EBITDA, and it’s a very profitable business once it scales.

James West:   Right. So, in the early days of drone delivery, there was, you had Staples, you know, kicking the tires; there was the Canada Post. Are those things still part of the mix as well?

Tony DiBenedetto:  We’re working with about 50 different groups.

James West:   Wow.

Tony DiBenedetto:  Government agencies, remote communities, logistics companies, cargo operators, retailers…

Original article: Drone Delivery Canada (CVE:FLT) Launches Cargo Capacity Condor Drone

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