Aerit has completed a drone delivery service pilot project covering households across a 100 square kilometer (38 square mile) area in Norrtälje, Sweden. The flights, conducted beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), provided on-demand grocery and product delivery to homes surrounding ICA Nära Gräddö Skärgårdshandel.
The pilot project, funded by Sweden’s innovation agency, Vinnova, was a joint effort between Aerit, ICAx, Research Institutes of Sweden, and Norrtälje Kommun to evaluate the benefits of drone delivery as well as study public reception of the services. The deliveries took place over six days in extreme weather conditions including snow and temperatures below negative 10 degrees Celsius. Among the 30 households who registered for the project, 10 were selected for participation. Once onboarded, customers could request delivery through the ICA Pronto mobile application.
“The pilot project has been an unqualified success,” said Alex Perrien, CEO of Aerit. “We reliably provided access to goods and services in harsh weather conditions to locations that normally require several modes of transportation to reach. We have replaced short car and boat trips to the store with Nimbi flights, reducing travel time while improving safety and sustainability. In addition to the support of Vinnova and our many project partners, none of this would have been possible without the innovative leadership at Transportstyrelsen who is working hard to maintain competitiveness of the Swedish airspace.”
Aerit is a sustainable drone delivery service based in Stockholm, Sweden. Aerit’s autonomous Nimbi delivery drones, designed and built by Aerit, are battery-powered with a max payload capacity of 4kg (10lbs). Nimbi features a proprietary winching system that allows for both package pick-up and drop-off without the need for supporting infrastructure. Aerit’s mission is the democratization of access to goods and services regardless of location, weather, time of day, or individual limitations.
Since founding the company in January of 2021, Aerit’s milestones include regulatory approval for operations under the EASA SORA framework, and successful completion of Sweden’s first commercial drone delivery of food in October of 2021. Aerit plans to launch continuous delivery services in select areas around Sweden in 2023.
