Wingcopter bags €40M from EU to scale ‘new era for drone delivery’

German drone solution startup Wingcopter announced today it had landed €40 million in funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to scale up services and ramp up production of its latest model.

According to its developers, the Wingcopter 198 introduces a “new era for drone delivery.” Additions to the latest version of Wingcopter’s aircraft, “the world’s first triple-drop delivery drone,” include delivery of up to three packages to multiple locations during one flight. 

What’s more, a single operator can fly up to 10 units simultaneously and beyond visual line of sight. The model also features an AI-based visual detect-and-avoid solution and smart precision landing capabilities. 

The Wingcopter 198 has a wingspan of, you guessed it, 198 cm, and stretches 152 cm from front to tail. It can carry up to 6 kg and when carrying a 5 kg payload, it has a range of 75 km. Without any cargo, it can fly for up to 110 km.

The drone’s default cruise speed is 100 km/h, but it has a maximum speed of 144 km/h. Additionally, its developers say it can withstand strong winds due to a patented tilt-rotor technology – 15 m/s average, 20 m/s gusts. 

Creating jobs at home and abroad

The €40 million investment is backed by the European Commission’s InvestEU programme under its sustainable infrastructure window, and the funds are provided as a quasi-equity investment, meaning that it ranks between equity and debt.

Of course, EIB, the lending arm of the European Union, does not splurge on projects simply because it features some cool tech. It also looks for broader social and environmental benefits when deciding whether or not to fund a project. 

“Our goal is also to improve lives by creating many jobs — in R&D and manufacturing at our headquarters in Europe, as well as in the countries where we provide services, where we train and qualify local young people to operate our drone delivery networks,” said co-founder and CEO Tom Plümmer. 

Woman servicing the Wingcopter drone

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