DRONEDEK’s Mailbox of the Future Could be the Answer to Drone Delivery

Seems like every retailer these days is thinking about the best way to deliver on customer expectations for fast, cheap and secure delivery of everything from lunch to clothing to prescription medication. They’re all wondering when drone delivery will be commonly available.

A startup operating in a town you’ve never heard of in America has been thinking about that, too. They’re ahead of the rest of the world in devising a receptacle that will be ready to receive all those packages – as well as traditional post and packages – before most countries have ironed out all the new regulations needed for ubiquitous drone delivery.

“We’ve basically built a better, smart mailbox to meet the needs of the future,” says DRONEDEK Founder and CEO Dan O’Toole.

O’Toole came up with the idea one day while driving near Indianapolis, Indiana, home to the Indy 500. He saw a drone flying in a field near the highway he was on and that caused him to wonder where it was going. He knew traditional deliveries often ended up on porches where many were stolen.

“I believe that if one person is struck with a good idea, 10 other people somewhere in the world are thinking along the same lines,” he said. “So, I went home, sketched out my idea and got to work on seeking a patent for the idea.”

O’Toole beat Amazon and the United States Postal Service by days in filing his patent, which he’s now seeking approval for in several other countries even as his company finalizes the initial batch of DRONEDEK smart mailboxes.  DRONEDEK is seeking patent protection in Australia, Brazil, the European Union, Israel, Japan and the United Kingdom.

“I’ve been beaten before, so I intentionally worked fast and hard to get my idea to the patent office. It was awesome to see that I’d made it – and I’d gotten their faster than these massive organizations that have dozens of people who must be paid to do what I had done virtually on my own,” he said.

The DRONEDEK mailbox is more than just a receptacle. It’s a charger for drones and other devices. It’s an emergency alarm. It’s an app-driven receptacle for mail or packages – even fast food and prescription drugs – that for the first time will keep those parcels safe from thieves. Because DRONEDEKs are matched to subscribers, package senders can be confident their products are reaching their intended customers, something key for items like prescription medication or other items that would require recipient authentication.

DRONEDEK’s future is bright as it addresses problems plaguing the so-called “last mile” of the delivery chain, or more precisely, the last few feet. That chain begins with retailers’ factories, then distribution warehouses at various points in countries across the world to regional and local distribution centers from which trucks are dispatched to local neighborhoods. O’Toole foresees a time when some of those trucks will be replaced by drones that deliver to homes.

Fortune Business Insights estimates the overall drone package delivery space to be worth $51 billion by 2028. More than 200 million packages were stolen from American porches in 2021.

DRONEDEKs would keep those packages secure until the intended recipient opens the device with his or app.

“We have raised nearly $7 million in cash and tax incentives already and are primed to raise more to support out plans for a $50 million production order in 2022,” O’Toole said. “We are set to break out in the next several months. We can’t wait to be working worldwide.”

Quelle: www.dronedek.com