New age logistics services provider Delhivery has acquired California-based Transition Robotics Inc, which develops Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) platforms.
Delhivery did not disclose the financial details.
“All IP registered in the US is assigned to Delhivery with this transaction, strengthening its capabilities in a wide range of applications, including aerial photography, remote sensing, inspection, and surveys,” the IPO-bound company said.
This is Delhivery’s second acquisition after Spoton Logistics in August for $300 million. That was done to strengthen its business-to-business (B2B) capabilities.
Last month, Delhivery filed its draft prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for a Rs 7,460 crore initial public offering (IPO).
TRI “seeks to unlock new markets and applications for its customers and has a proven track record of shepherding innovative concepts to production,” Delhivery said in a statement.
The Santa Cruz-based company brings a decade of deep experience in all aspects of small UAS, from hardware and software design to testing, validation, and manufacturing.
“While we continue to build our supply chain platform, we must look at the long-term developments poised to shape the industry. Bringing TRI onboard gives us a chance to get directly involved with core drone technology as regulations and use cases for drones are evolving in the country,” said Kapil Bharati, chief technology officer, Delhivery.
With its nationwide network covering over 17,000 pin codes, Delhivery provides logistics services such as express parcel transportation, PTL, and TL freight, cross-border, supply chain, and technology services.
It says it has successfully fulfilled over 1 billion shipments since inception and currently works with over 21,000 customers.
The 10-year-old company gets the majority of its business from e-commerce deliveries but has started expanding in the B2B segment as well. It works across sectors like consumer electronics, fashion, FMCG, and select industrial sectors like auto.
“We are excited to join the Delhivery team and combine our experience in developing UAS solutions with Delhivery’s ability to quickly deploy and operate technology at scale. We believe our core technology and expertise is a great addition to Delhivery’s fully-integrated approach to logistics and are looking forward to being a part of its future,” said Jeff Gibboney, co-founder, TRI.
Founded in 2011, TRI has focused on taking vertical take-off UAS with advanced flight capabilities to market.
Source: Economic Times