Israeli startup FlyTech will launch its gliders in the country's two-year autonomous drone delivery initiative, a press release announced on Monday.
The drones will act as unmanned delivery vehicles that will fly over Hadera and Haifa, just as they did in a trial last month, in Israel's large-scale project to create a national drone network for commercial deliveries, medical transport, and urban air mobility.
The new pilot program is expected to last for two years, and was organized in collaboration with the innovation Authority in the Prime Minister’s Office.
FlyTech was created at the Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT) by Moshe Lugasi and Eliran Oren and draws on knowledge from their service in the Israeli Air Force. Winning a contract from the government, the startup's goal is to ultimately use drones in order to cut down delivery times and reduce traffic on Israel's roads.
Developed in conjunction with two other Israeli companies, Airwayz and SkyLink, the drones will be dependent on autonomous software-run gliders that will make deliveries without humans operating the service.
The long-term interest of the startup is to design and convert military drone technology to the public need, such as emergency response, agriculture and construction.
The establishment of FlyTech was made possible with the help of the JCT, and in particular the college's LevTech Entrepreneurship Center's LAB pre-accelerator program, which helped lay the foundations of the company.
Regarding the future of the company, Eliran Oren, co-founder, said that “we estimate that the product developed in the drone pilot program will be on the market in the coming years. It could transform the delivery industry, as it is expected to replace trucks and make deliveries from logistics centers.”