Flytrex Takes Off with Autonomous Pickup
Uber Eats + The Fresh Market, Driveblocks Raises, 3PD Marketshare
We’re keeping today’s issue extra snappy, so you can get back to making your deliveries happen! Read on for big news from Flytrex, Uber Eats + The Fresh Market, Driveblocks, and of course a 3PD marketshare update.
Today:
Flytrex Takes Off with Autonomous Pickup
Uber Eats Partners with The Fresh Market
Chart Time | 3PD Marketshare Checkin
Driveblocks Raises $ for Mapless Autonomy
DRONES | Flytrex Launches Autonomous Pickup
Drone delivery startup Flytrex today announced Autonomous Pickup, a new delivery system that automates nearly the entire process: from order placement, to pickup at the restaurant, to yard-based delivery. Removing local takeoff and instead loading via dropdown wire can cut end-to-end delivery time down to five minutes. Participating retailers and restaurants already include Unilever’s The Ice Cream Shop, Papa Johns, Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, and Little Caesars.
The Big Picture: Competition in the drone delivery space has heated up. UPS and uAvionix recently received the FAA’s critical OK to begin BVLOS (beyond the visual line of sight) operations, with Zipline expected to receive the same blessing shortly. Well-funded players like Wing and DroneUp have started dabbling near Flytrex in Dallas-Fort Worth, signing partnerships with major retailers like Walmart.
3PD | Uber Eats Signs Grocer The Fresh Market
Another day, another grocery partner, as Uber Eats signs on supermarket chain The Fresh Market for its delivery platform. While based in North Carolina, The Fresh Market manages to span 22 states despite having a relatively small 161 store count. Focused on providing a “European style market,” The Fresh Market was voted the "Best Supermarket in America" by USA Today's 10 Best Readers' Choice Awards 2022 and 2021.
The Big Picture: With Instacart’s IPO around the corner, competitors Uber Eats and DoorDash are really going all out to make a play for grocery business. On Tuesday, Uber also signed on Save Mart’s 200 locations across CA and NV. Meanwhile, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu implied “there is still a long ways to go” at his competition.
CHART TIME | 3PD Marketshare Checkin
It’s time for the Bloomberg Second Measure monthly marketshare update, with the numbers wiggling a bit since June: DoorDash inched up one percentage point, while the others stayed constant. DashPass retention sits at 66 percent after one month, 33 percent at six months and 25 percent at twelve months.
AUTONOMY | Driveblocks Raises €2.2 Million
German startup Driveblocks closed a €2.2 million (around $2.36 million) seed round, in further proof that the commercial autonomy space is heating back up. The company is developing a Mapless Autonomy Platform, meaning that equipped vehicles would not need to rely on maps and other relatively static information, improving their ability to respond to changing, dynamic environments (like the types encountered by commercial and delivery vehicles.)
The Big Picture: After a slow start in the first half of the year, the commercial AV space is attracting big bucks once more. Last week we saw autonomous trucking startup Stack AV raise a whopping billion plus dollars. This week, Congress is also holding hearings on the matter, as various factions duke it out over whether the technology will kill or create jobs.
A Few Good Links
Get to know Supply Chain by Amazon. Kroger pauses automated fulfillment expansion. Schultz steps down from Starbucks board. Libro launches guest experience platform. Oracle debuts lower cost restaurant management tool. British pubs turn to surge pricing. What to look for at FSTEC. Chicago mulls city-owned grocery store.
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