DRONEDEK Corporation, one of the first companies in the world to patent a smart mailbox designed for secure drone delivery, has signed a formal agreement with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to develop, design and produce DRONEDEK units for worldwide distribution.
DRONEDEK holds a first-position patent portfolio for its smart mailbox. It is a feature-rich, secure mailbox that accepts delivery via robotic, unmanned, driverless, aerial drone or conventional means.
“DRONEDEK must work with the reliability and redundancy of a 747 airliner with 300 people on it,” said Dan O’Toole, DRONEDEK CEO and Founder. “This new collaboration between BEL and DRONEDEK gives us the edge and credibility we have been looking for in the marketplace.”
The agreement pairs DRONEDEK’s intellectual property with BEL’s world-class engineering, manufacturing and deployment. DRONEDEK has a robust product roadmap guided by its (filed or awarded) 111 patent claims. BEL is uniquely qualified to deliver a durable product capable of working reliably in any climate.
Initial discussions envision DRONEDEK executing up to $50 million in product purchase orders with units expected by the second quarter of 2022.
“We are always raising the bar on our technical offerings, and we want to continue to be a company of firsts,” said Anandi Ramalingam, Chairman and Managing Director at BEL. “The DRONEDEK opportunity presents for BEL a new vertical in the changing landscape of worldwide, last-mile logistics – one in which we will be able to put a stake in the ground and build on.”
DRONEDEK mailboxes also accept traditional mail delivery and are designed to become an everyday utility service. Controlled by an app, the units will keep packages hot or cold; alert users to package arrival; recharge drones; and issue emergency alerts.
DRONEDEK solves the challenges of delivering packages in ‘the last mile’ of the delivery route by reducing expense – the average cost of drone delivery for that last mile is $1 compared to $2 by truck, increasing efficiency – drone delivery eliminates the need for trucks to drive repeatedly through neighborhoods, and providing absolute package security – packages locked in the mailbox are retrieved only via the app.
