“Phaistos”, Swiss Post and the drones of Andreas Raptopoulos

The management company of the Phaistos Fund, 5G Ventures, makes its maiden investment in Matternet, participating in its second round of financing (series B financing round).

Under the agreement, Matternet, which is active in the field of micro-transport via drones in urban centers, proceeds to the establishment in our country of a subsidiary (Matternet Europe), for all its activities in Europe.

Founded and CEO Andreas Raptopoulos and based in California, Matternet has so far attracted the investment interest of global business giants such as Boeing through HorizonX Ventures, Sony through Sony Innovation Fund, Mercedes-Benz and Swiss Post.

In Agia Paraskevi

Matternet Europe will be housed in the Technology Park “Lefkipos” of NCSR “Demokritos” in Agia Paraskevi, while it will collaborate with the scientific team of Media Networks Lab.

“Demokritos” is a member of the network of partners developed by 5G Ventures to support companies in which the Phaistos Fund invests with infrastructure, technology, know-how and access to Research and Development resources.

According to information, the Fund has approached more than 35 companies from various sectors, such as cybersecurity, logistics, defense, manufacturing, entertainment, seeking support.

Swiss Post and profits

It is interesting that at the time when the Phaistos Fund announced its intention to invest in the leading company, the Swiss Post announced the decision to transfer the drone delivery business to Matternet, with which they have been cooperating since 2017.

The Swiss Post was one of the first companies to use drones to transport fragile items between health facilities.

According to the announcement, the Swiss Post is not able to widely use drones or make a profit using current technology and complying with applicable regulations.

However, according to analyses by independent agencies, the value of the global market for civil aviation services using drones, is estimated to reach $ 56 billion by 2030 and one trillion dollars by 2040.

What is Matternet?

With 10 years of business life, Matternet uses drones to transport and deliver items weighing up to two kilograms within urban areas and within a radius of up to 20 km.

The company, which was the first to launch commercialized drone commercial shipments in the United States, has developed an innovative cloud-based platform that leverages the capabilities of 5G networks for secure fleet management using encrypted communications.

In addition, Matternet has built innovative take-off / landing stations that also act as drone charging points.

To date, Matternet drones have flown 20,000 commercial flights to eight cities in the USA, Switzerland, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, contributing to the safe handling and delivery of fragile objects, free of urban traffic, in a highly sustainable and environmentally friendly (ES Criteria).

Matternet solutions are already being used to transport vulnerable items between healthcare facilities in Switzerland, and on an annual basis the company is estimated to serve 100 destinations in Abu Dhabi, delivering 3 million medical supplies to the city’s healthcare facilities.

They have also been used successfully by organizations such as the World Health Organization, UNICEF and Médecins Sans Frontières in Africa, Central America and Asia.

Where there are no roads, there are drones

The talented Andreas Raptopoulos first inspired Matternet when he realized that one billion people around the world live in areas without reliable road access and often have difficulty accessing critical supplies, such as medicines.

From the world of ideas, Matternet really came into being when during its tour in Papua New Guinea with the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders, their 20-truck convoy was trapped in the mud.

There he realized that a global network of drones could address these problems and change the way delivery services around the world operate.

From Vyronas to Silicon Valley

Born in Athens, Andreas Raptopoulos believes that drone technology is the greatest technological invention in the field of vehicles since the appearance of the internal combustion engine.

He completed his basic education in Vyronas and continued at the University of Patras, where he studied mechanical engineering and aeronautics. He graduated first in his year and with a scholarship from the Goulandris Foundation and, subsequently, from the Onassis Foundation, he continued his studies in Great Britain, at the Royal College of Arts.

After graduating, Andreas founded FutureAcoustic, a company that builds an algorithm and a device that converts noise into real-time music. At the age of 26, he sold FutureAcoustic, which was eventually licensed to companies such as Herman Miller and Sony.

In 2011 he will be the first Greek to be admitted to Singularity University in the USA.

Singularity University was founded by a well-known Greek-American, Peter Diamantis, the man who founded the X-prize for commercial space travel, and the writer and thinker Ray Kurzweil.

That same year he founded Matternet, based in Mountain View, California.