Flytrex

Flytrex provides a drone-powered delivery service for suburban areas, with operations currently available in Texas and North Carolina. Restaurant orders are autonomously transported and delivered directly to customers’ backyards. Upon arrival, the drone uses a wire to lower the package from an 80-foot height, ensuring a smooth and secure drop-off, even for fragile items like eggs. Flytrex’s drones can carry up to 5.5 pounds, fly 5 miles round-trip, and cruise at 32 mph, unaffected by traffic. Average delivery time is less than five minutes. The company works closely with the FAA, which has certified its drones as commercial general aviation aircraft, and with state departments of transportation. Although the fleet operates fully autonomously and features multiple redundancies to manage 99% of potential malfunctions, FAA-certified operators oversee the drones’ missions to guarantee smooth deliveries.

The company’s business model is drone-delivery-as-a-service. The company establishes hubs in restaurant-packed shopping centers near suburban areas, where “runners” collect orders and dispatch them to the drones. Flytrex employs a pricing model designed to minimize costs for both restaurants and customers. The company charges restaurants a fixed fee for each delivery, which is significantly lower than the typical 30% commission charged by human-driven services like DoorDash or Uber Eats. Customers aren’t burdened with additional delivery fees, service charges, or inflated prices—they pay only the standard menu cost. This model alleviates financial strain on restaurants while offering an innovative alternative to traditional delivery methods.