A growing, woman-owned Dayton logistics and drone package delivery service has received a $250,000 investment from an Atlanta-based company alongside two others in the sector. The investment is a part of the venture’s goal to help solve plaguing issues in America’s supply chain utilizing funds from investment partners – 95% of which come from a supply chain background.
Venture 53 provided the investment to Drone Express to provide a better path to profit and improved valuations, putting the company on route to be in the front end of industry change. Venture 53 is a pure play logistics and transportation venture capital fund, providing funding to the sector in the five game changing verticals in freight and supply chain logistics: payments & visibility, yield management, warehousing & fulfillment, shipping and logistics.
With the supply chain sector rapidly evolving, new advancements are transforming the way goods are transported and delivered, making the process faster, more efficient, and cost reliable. One of the most significant advancements in this field is the pursuit of autonomous delivery and its potential to increase productivity.
As part of their goal to solve inefficiencies in the $1 trillion supply chain and logistics industry and embrace new advancements, Venture 53 funded Drone Express with $250,000 for its innovative efforts in aviation intended to transform last-mile logistics by embracing autonomous flight. The company uses airborne autonomous drones to make safe, reliable, eco-friendly package delivery to customers across the country, enabling clients to streamline their logistic services for local package delivery.
Currently, Drone Express is running successful pilot programs for Kroger in Cincinnati and Papa John’s in Atlanta, GA. Both customers are eager to expand drone delivery and new customers are interested in partnering up.
Venture 53 said it saw an opportunity through Drone Express to integrate into the existing logistics world with intention to help the Dayton company further navigate the sector – something Beth Flippo, Drone Express CEO, agreed with.
"Partnering with a logistics-focused Venture Capital firm will provide us with the necessary capital and invaluable expertise and resources that will help us optimize our supply chain operations and accelerate our growth trajectory,” Flippo said. “We are excited to have their support and guidance as we continue to innovate and disrupt the logistics industry.”
Drone Express, a division of Telegrid, recently moved into its 6,000-square-foot headquarters in Dayton at 123 Webster St. in the Firefly Building near Day Air Ballpark. The company, founded in 2019, currently employs 50 workers and passed its first seed round in November of 2021, raising $5 million.
Alongside Drone Express, Venture 53 invested in these other out-of-state supply chain companies:
- Navix (Minnetonka, MN) – A developer of a Software-as-a-Service platform designed for document retrieval and freight auditing service. It is the only 3PL, brokerage specific document processing and freight audit platform. The company offers tools to automate processes at scale, increasing cash conversion cycles and revealing better insights into freight and discrepancies.
- Newtrul (Plano, TX) – The developer of a shipment aggregation platform intended to connect shippers, brokers, and carriers through a centralized portal. The company's platform streamlines the process of truckload freight matching by digitizing and aggregating it into a spot marketplace that connects carriers with shippers and brokers, enabling trucking companies to easily search for and digitally book their next load.
