This IIT-K alum's drone start-up is looking to air-drop your Zomato deliveries soon

TechEagle was founded in 2015 by Vikram Singh, an alumnus of IIT-Kanpur and his four friends, and the team has developed the flying device or drone, which is equipped with GPS tracking
TechEagle will help Zomato carve a path toward drone-based food delivery in India (Pic: TechEagle)
TechEagle will help Zomato carve a path toward drone-based food delivery in India (Pic: TechEagle)

How cool would it be to get your food delivered by drones without the hassle of calling the delivery guy a thousand times, "ki bhaiya, khana kaha hai?" Taking a step ahead in bringing about a revolution in the food-delivery ecosystem, Zomato recently acquired TechEagle Innovations, a Lucknow-based startup that works exclusively on manufacturing drones. TechEagle will help Zomato carve a path toward drone-based food delivery in India, and achieve their ambitions in creating a hub to hub delivery network powered by hybrid multi-rotor drones.  

TechEagle was founded in 2015 by Vikram Singh, an alumnus of IIT-Kanpur and his four friends, and the team has developed the flying device, which is equipped with GPS tracking providing effectiveness. Tech Eagle makes their own drones and organises summer training classes with students of schools and colleges, training them about the functionalities of drones. We spoke to Vikram to find out more about the collaboration. Excerpts:

What was the inspiration behind manufacturing drones? What fueled the idea?

The development and the eventual spread of drones is something I personally believe is inevitable. They are already making their presence felt in various parts of the world. Herein, I noticed a huge opportunity and multiple use cases for the unmanned aerial vehicles and decided to work towards designing drones meant for delivery. I always strive for better solutions and with TechEagle, I got the chance to build one tech solution for the advancement of the logistics sector in India.

Drones to the rescue: The team has developed the flying device, which is equipped with GPS tracking providing effectiveness (Pic: TechEagle)

How do you think the recently released Drone Regulations 1.0 will change the game?

Drone Regulations 1.0 has proved to be a significant milestone and we’re confident that the further developments expected in the foreseeable future will facilitate the ease of doing business and help create a robust ecosystem for the future of food delivery in India.

How do you work with collaborators? Tell us about your deal with Zomato. Will you still be operating the drones yourself?

We will now be working solely towards building a drone delivery network for Zomato. Our first job right now is to devise hub-to-hub delivery networks and design multi-rotor drones that can pick up a payload of under 5 kg. Our drone innovations will be backed by Zomato’s reach and in-depth data knowledge with the presence of its food delivery operations across 100 cities in India.

Surely there have been difficulties in the beginning. What challenges have you faced throughout your journey?

I think the biggest challenge and the most significant factor were the government regulations. Now with them in favour of drone development, I am confident that in the future we will be able to deliver food directly to the users via drones

Vikram Singh, Founder, TechEagle (Pic: TechEagle)

What do you think is the future of this industry? We haven't seen many players in this sector but will there be a boom soon?

While we are at a very nascent stage, I think drones will be an integral part of our lives be it for last mile delivery, security, 3D mapping, agriculture and several other use cases. Now with noteworthy regulations coming into place, all the stakeholders together are approaching towards building a strong ecosystem for aerial innovation in India. We expect the sector to grow multifold in the coming years, in terms of technology, investment and talent. As for food delivery, I firmly believe that drones powering the last mile delivery is an inevitable part of the future and our incredible team at Zomato will continue working towards building it.

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