To build a network for sending and receiving physical goods that’s built like the internet: automated, peer-to-peer, bidirectional, asynchronous and distributed..
COMPANY DESCRIPTION
Matternet has developed one of the world’s leading technology platforms for on-demand, aerial delivery of small parcels in urban environments. The company currently provides drone delivery services for hospitals in the United States and Europe, transporting life-savings parcels over dense, urban environments. Matternet was the first company to begin revenue-generating drone flights in the United States and recently entered into an exclusive, multi-year partnership agreement with UPS to roll-out services at other hospitals across the country. With proprietary cloud-based software, installed infrastructure solutions, cutting edge hardware, and regulatory backing, Matternet is poised to seize upon the coming revolution in drone delivery. The company has already raised more than $25 million from investors such as Boeing, Andreessen Horowitz and Sony.
BIO
Andreas Raptopoulos grew up in Athens in an entrepreneurial family. Having loved transportation since a young age, he studied mechanical engineering and aeronautics at the University of Patras. Andreas excelled, graduating at the top of his class and receiving a scholarship for a master’s degree. As soon as he realized that he wanted to invent and build something new, Andreas continued his studies at Industrial Design Engineering at Imperial College, as well as he attended the Royal College of Art. After graduating, Andreas founded FutureAcoustic, a company which built an algorithm and device that turns noise into music in real time and that was ultimately patented and licensed to Herman Miller and Sony, among others. Eager to act on his longstanding passion for aerospace, Andreas then moved to Silicon Valley and founded Matternet in 2011.