Overview
- Manna announced on Wednesday that it is establishing a U.S. operations and manufacturing center in Tulsa with construction already under way and plans to employ about 1,000 people over several years.
- The company says $50 million raised in a Series B round earlier this year will fund the U.S. expansion and the hire of 200 to 300 operations staff in the next 12 months.
- Manna expects to begin flying partner orders for DoorDash, McDonald's and Uber Eats within weeks to months and aims to operate from about 40 local bases in Tulsa by mid-2027.
- The startup uses remotely monitored drones that hover and lower packages on a tether, a design that reduces the size and cost of each launch site and shapes safety and regulatory needs.
- Manna paused its main delivery service in Ireland because of unclear planning rules and is focusing on the U.S. as a competitive battleground against Zipline, Alphabet’s Wing and Amazon Prime Air while eyeing Britain and the Middle East next.