Swoop Aero

Swoop Aero is a drone delivery company, with headquarters in Melbourne, Australia. The company uses their own model of drones, the Kookaburra, to transport medical supplies in remote and rural areas. In 2018, Swoop Aero was the first company to deliver a vaccine by drone under a commercial contract, on the island of Erromango, Vanuatu. Swoop Aero currently operates in Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mozambique. 
== History ==
=== Founders ===
Swoop Aero was founded in 2017 by Eric Peck and Joshua Tepper https://dronelife.com/2018/12/24/exclusive-interview-the-team-delivering-vaccines-to-vanuatu/, in Melbourne. Eric was formerly a Captain in the Royal Australian Air Force; he also worked as a management consultant at Pollen Consulting then Deloitte in Strategy and Operations, prior to founding Swoop Aero. Josh is a Mechatronics Engineer who previously worked in industrial automation. Josh has always had an interest in drones; prior to founding Swoop Aero, he was a top 10 drone racing champion! 
=== Finances ===
Swoop Aero is venture capital backed, and has received funding from Blackbird Ventures, Tempus Partners, Right Click Capital, and Artesian Venture Capital.https://medium.com/tempus-partners/our-investment-in-swoop-aero-a7b866fbaf77
== Services ==
Swoop Aero provides a fully managed service, delivering medical supplies by drone. Although they manufacture aircraft, the company does not sell aircraft or components. The drone delivery service has been utilized by governments and organisations such as Unicef and Gavi, as well as operating projects funded by USAID and UKAid.
== Aircraft ==
Swoop Aero uses the Kookaburra aircraft, a drone that was designed and manufactured by Josh Tepper and his engineering team in Melbourne, Australia. The aircraft structure is 3D printed in the company's on-site manufacturing facility.
== Operations ==
Swoop Aero's has conducted operations in medical drone delivery with the UN, UKAid and USAID, and the governments of Vanuatu and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 
=== Vanuatu ===
In Vanuatu, Swoop Aero delivered the vaccine for Baby Joy who would become the first child in the world to receive a vaccine delivered by commercial drone.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-19/using-drones-to-deliver-crucial-vaccines-to-remote-vanuatu/10728350 Swoop Aero won an open tender to deliver the vaccines via drone in remote parts of Epi and Erromango islands in Vanuatu. https://www.unicef.org.au/about-us/media/october-2018/australian-company-one-of-two-selected-in-world-fi
=== Democratic Republic of the Congo ===
Swoop Aero has worked with NGO partner VillageReach and the DRC government to implement a medical drone delivery system in the Équateur province of the DRC. This initiative is supported by Gavi and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.https://www.geekwire.com/2019/drones-swoop-congo-strengthen-countrys-vaccine-supply-chain/ The drone delivery network covers 22,000 km sq in the province, and delivers medications, medical supplies and pathology samples. 
=== Malawi ===
Swoop Aero took over management of flight operations for the USAID Global Health Supply Chain drone project, in the Nkhata Bay district of Malawi, in November 2019.
=== Mozambique ===
In December 2019, Swoop Aero and VillageReach announced the of a drone transport network to facilitate movement of Tuberculous samples in Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique. The transport network is funded by UKAid.
== Awards ==
=== Tech ===
Swoop Aero was the joint winner with Zipline (drone delivery) of the New York Times Good Tech Award 2018 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/21/technology/year-in-technology-2018.html. 
=== Industry ===
Swoop Aero jointly received the Humanitarian Award at the 2019 AUVSI XCELLENCE conference alongside NASA, NCDOT, Zipline, and Project Lifesaver.
=== Design ===
Driven x Design Now is an advisory panel of global design giants. They judge innovative projects from around the world. Swoop Aero was was nominated and awarded the gold in the category "Social and Community-Oriented Design - Systems" for their project in Vanuatu https://drivenxdesign.com/now/project.asp?ID=17963 . 
== External Links ==
* Swoop Aero’s Official website
* Swoop Aero on Linkedin
* Swoop Aero on Twitter
* Swoop Aero on Instagram
* Swoop Aero on Facebook
* Swoop Aero on Crunchbase
== References ==
Category:Companies of Australia
Category:Medical transport devices
Category:Companies established in 2017
Category:Aircraft manufacturers
Category:Aircraft manufactured in Australia
Category:Delivery drone