| Volansi | |
| Type: | Privately held company |
| Industry: | Logistics |
| Genre: | Delivery drone |
| Successors: | --> |
| Founded: | 2015 |
| Founders: | Hannan Parvizian[1] Wesley Zheng |
| Hq Location: | San Francisco, California |
| Hq Location Country: | United States |
| Key People: | Hannan Parvizian, CEO |
| Profit: | --> |
| Profit Year: | --> |
| Owners: | --> |
Volansi (formerly Volans-i) is an American unmanned aerial vehicle logistics company. Founded in San Francisco, California in 2015, the company utilizes VTOL drones for commercial, medical and defense operations.[2]
The company was founded in 2015 by former Tesla, Inc. senior operations analyst Hannan Parvizian and Wesley Zheng, who had been working for electric car manufacturer Lucid Motors.[3] While at Stanford University, Zheng was a part of a team who researched an improved model of lithium–sulfur battery for use in renewable energy systems.[4] [5] Parvizian was inspired to create the company due to logistics issues that Tesla was facing, where manufacturing parts could not be sourced in a timely manner.[6] The company was originally funded by Y Combinator, and the company presented their VTOL drones at a showcase in Austin, Texas in 2017.[7] [3] In July 2017, the company led a project that set "a new U.S. record for long-distance urban delivery by drone, using cellphone networks to help navigate a simulated 97-mile trip".[8] The company opened a production facility in Concord, California.[2]
Volansi first became involved in humanitarian relief in 2018, by working together with Merck & Co. and Direct Relief to develop a drone-based medical supply delivery system in Puerto Rico, securing inter-island flight permissions for the project.[2] [9] [1] The company's preparations for creating the first hurricane relief drone were scampered in 2019 due to the damage caused by Hurricane Dorian to The Bahamas.[10]
In March 2020, Volansi hired former Amazon Prime Air co-founder Daniel Buchmueller as their Chief Technology Officer.[11] The company won the Airmanship Special Award at the 2020 African Drone Forum.[12] The same year it began testing for vaccine deliveries in North Carolina with Merck.[13]
In July 2022, Volansi filed for assignment for benefit of creditors (ABC), an alternative to bankruptcy.[14]
Volansi's facilities are based in Concord, California, however the company operates globally.[15] The drone services are offered on-demand, and can be used for commercial, medical and defense purposes.[2] Packages are able to be delivered to any location with a suitable flat surface, including construction sites and ships at sea.[6] To be able to operate, the company receives many exceptions to Federal Aviation Administration rules.[16]
Volansi's VOLY M20 model has a maximum 350 mile range, depending on the payload and weather conditions.[12] However, the company have tested prototypes that can travel at a 500-mile range, with a top speed of 67 miles per hour.[6] [3]