Dunzo Ready To Soar New Heights: To Lead Med-air Consortium To Conduct BVLOS Drone Delivery
02 Jun 2021 | 03 min read
Jun 3, 2021: Dunzo, the Google-backed delivery and e-commerce firm, recently announced that it would conduct experimental Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone delivery flights for the Telangana government’s 'Medicine from the Sky’ project. The project was launched by the Telangana government in association with the World Economic Forum and it aims to serve various districts in the state. The delivery aims to facilitate medical deliveries including coronavirus vaccines.
According to a report by The News Minute, Dunzo said, “The drone delivery system will focus on an end-to-end ecosystem for drone-based logistic transportation and utilize the existing logistics network of the state.”
Praising the states’ decision to adopt new technologies, Mr. Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary, ITE&C Department, Government of Telangana said, “Telangana is one of the most proactive states looking to adopt emerging technologies, and the ‘Medicine from the Sky’ project using drones is in line with the same principles. This project is one of the first such programs in the country where multiple drones would fly BVLOS to establish their value proposition for the healthcare supply chain. The vision is to ensure healthcare equity for rural areas.”
Technological advancements have undoubtedly made our lives easier. In these current pandemic times, technology is playing a major role to build safer cities, given that connectivity is no more an issue. As Dunzo CEO Kabeer Biswas rightly said that with technology, it can now be ensured that no matter where people live, life-saving essentials can reach them. After all, everyone has the right to gain immediate access to vaccines and medicines – ranging from most populous to the remotest location.
What started as a small WhatsApp group in 2014, has now transformed into a hyperlocal, app-based service. The company offers services across multiple verticals – courier, commute, and e-commerce. It is backed by the likes of Google, Blume Ventures, Lightbox, LGT Lightstone Aspada, 3L, Moving Capital, Evolvence, and Hana Financial Investment.
In January this year, the company witnessed 350% growth in medicine orders. In the last few months, the company supported 300+ neighborhoods across 8 cities, delivering daily essential items to consumers. Moreover, the firm enabled the delivery of home-cooked meals and medical essentials, which has led to 204% in Dunzo’s pick up and drop orders. Dunzo aims to be the biggest commerce portal in India in future.
In the wake of the second wave of the Covid-19 situation, with many states under lockdown, there has been an increase in ordering groceries and medicines, due to which the use of apps like Dunzo, Bigbasket, Swiggy, 1mg, Amazon, and Zomato have increased tremendously.
