$22 Million Funding Round Boosts Wingcopter's Drone Delivery Plans

Freight drone manufacturer Wingcopter has raised a further $22 million through a Series A funding round. The German company said it will use the investment to step up efforts to expand healthcare-related uses for its 178 Heavy Lift drone, including tasks such as the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.

The Series A round was led by California-based Xplorer Capital, whose portfolio focuses on autonomous technologies, and by Germany’s Futury Regio Growth Fund. Futury Ventures and Hessen Kapital III also invested in Wingcopter.

The 178 Heavy Lift drone delivers cargo weighing up to six kg (13 pounds) on distances of up to 120 km (75 miles). Operated autonomously, it lowers its payload via a winch mechanism and can then return to base with a new payload. The number 178 signifies the wingspan dimension in centimeters (equivalent to 70 inches).

Wingcopter now intends to develop a larger family of aircraft. It has not released performance details but said that a launch could happen within the next few months.

A company spokesman told FutureFlight that, to date, the 178 model has mainly been sold to research institutions, international organizations, and commercial operators with logistics needs. In some cases, Wingcopter provides a full-service option where it manages operations for clients.

For instance, the company has been using its drones to deliver medications to healthcare facilities across the southern African country of Malawi. It is preparing to expand Covid vaccine deliveries in other parts of Africa and also in Southeast Asia.

So far, operations have been covered by case-by-case approvals based on specific operations risk assessments. Wingcopter has now begun the FAA’s type certification process for unmanned aircraft systems and it plans to establish production facilities in Kentucky.

The company recently moved into a 77,500-square-foot headquarters in Weiterstadt, near Frankfurt. It has more than 100 employees and is seeking to introduce manufacturing techniques from the automotive sector to increase production rates.

“Our team is driven by tackling the world’s challenges through scalable innovations,” commented Wingcopter CEO Thomas Plummer. “This chapter of our journey is dedicated to setting up logistical highways in the sky that leapfrog traditional means of transportation. Poor infrastructure has always been a barrier, especially for healthcare provision, impacting billions of lives­—a situation exacerbated by Covid-19.”