Uber will test using drones for Uber Eats deliveries in some U.S. markets by the end of this year, part of a new partnership with Israeli startup Flytrex. The partnership will also include a small investment in Flytrex, though Uber told Bloomberg News the investment amount was not material.
The deal comes at a time when Uber has been re-engaging with some technologies that it used to develop in-house. Uber has been partnering with autonomous vehicle companies like Waymo to offer self-driving rides in cities such as Atlanta, and it’s aiming to bring electric air taxis to its service in the next few years.
Uber trialed using drones for some of its food deliveries all the way back in 2019. But the company never stuck with the idea due to regulatory limits on drones and later sold its “Elevate” aviation division to the air taxi company Joby. Now the regulatory environment around new types of aircraft is loosening, and companies like Zipline are trying to make aerial delivery a part of everyday life. Flytrex also works with Uber Eats competitor DoorDash, and the startup says it has made “over 200,000 deliveries” across the U.S.
