With eye on aerial deliveries, Zomato acqui-hires drone startup TechEagle

Restaurant search and food ordering firm Zomato has acquired a drone company, it announced on Wednesday, with an eye on starting delivery by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at some point in the future.

Founded by Indian Institute of Technology- Kanpur alumni Vikram Singh, TechEagle Innovations is a drone start-up based out of Lucknow. The company was incorporated in 2015 when Singh was in college.

The start-up is into consultancy and manufacturing of drones. It also provides technical expertise and training for the use and deployment of UAVs in commercial facilities.

Zomato did not disclose the terms of the deal. Singh and his team will join the food ordering firm, a company statement said.

“We are currently at the early stage of aerial innovations and are taking baby steps towards building a tomorrow wherein users can expect a drone to deliver the food they ordered online” said Zomato co-founder and chief executive officer Deepinder Goyal.

“Our first 'delivery job' currently is to design multi-rotor drones that can pick up a payload under 5 kg and set up drone delivery circuits for reducing the last mile delivery leg. We believe that robots powering the last mile delivery is an inevitable part of the future and hence is going to be a significant area of investment for us,” added Goyal.