DASH Systems is trying to solve one major inefficiency that plagues air delivery: you have to land the plane every time you deliver a package to a location on the ground. That means planes have to make stops for each delivery, find a runway to safely land and then waste fuel taking off again. So how is the company hoping to solve this? By tossing those packages out of planes while they’re still in the air.
And on Wednesday, the LA-based company got the funding to make this possible. DASH Systems just announced the closing of its $8 million seed funding round, which was led by 8VC.
Of course, there’s a lot more to DASH’s air delivery than opening an airplane door and yelling “heads up.” The company has developed the hardware and software to allow for precision drops, with parachutes and propellors that can guide a package to its destination while it’s falling, and then land safely. It says that this technology was inspired by U.S. defense industry technology, which allows for both weapons or supplies to be dropped out of a plane and land in a very specific spot.
Beyond landing equipment, DASH Systems has also developed technology that allows it to optimize its delivery routes — similar to how Uber and Lyft optimize their routes while picking up and dropping off carpoolers — because its planes don’t have to land. Additionally, it’s able to get shipments to remote areas that other shippers can’t access. The company says that this allows it to be 65 percent faster and 45 percent cheaper than traditional delivery options in remote areas.
“We created DASH Systems after realizing that 30 percent of the cost for delivering cargo or goods to small airports is associated with landing the plane,” CEO and founder Joel Ifill said in a statement. “By commercializing precision aerial delivery technology that previously was only available to militaries, we can accurately and safely airdrop cargo into airfields, distribution centers or rooftops all while the plane is still in motion. Our vision is to land the package, not the plane, and provide rapid logistics virtually anywhere in the world.”
This new funding will help the company as it continues to refine its delivery technology and expand into more rural areas. It will also help the company pursue more partnerships with government entities, like its current partnership with the Air Force Special Operations Command to deliver to rural parts of Alaska.
.png)
