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This comes a week after the drone operator announced a raise of $30m.
Manna, an Irish drone delivery company operating out of Dublin, has announced it will be expanding its drone capabilities. The news was revealed on workplace social media platform LinkedIn by founder Bobby Healy, who stated, “Manna air delivery is coming to Cork”.
Healy told SiliconRepublic.com, “It is an incredibly exciting business at the start of its long-term growth journey”, noting currently a key concern for Manna is democratising air delivery, in order to bring the benefits to every large suburb worldwide.
Additionally, there may be potential for job opportunities in the future. “Typically each of our bases would involve helping 20-50 people depending on the size and how many locations we operate,” Healy said.
The company was established in 2019 and aims to positively disrupt the food delivery industry by eliminating the need for human driving personnel and reducing carbon emissions.
Just last week, Manna announced that it had raised $30m in new funding. At the time, Healy told SiliconRepublic.com that the funds will go towards enabling Manna to accelerate its goal of making drone delivery the “safest, most sustainable and most convenient choice for communities worldwide”.
More and more Irish organisations and institutions are innovating within the drone ecosystem. Late last year, it was announced that a two-year study would be undertaken by Lero, the Research Ireland Centre for Software and Maynooth University, in collaboration with Dublin City Council and the Irish Aviation Authority, to help prepare Dublin and other European cities for widespread drone usage
The project will involve creating a digital twin of Dublin city in order to explore drone flight environments and how issues related to safety and control might be addressed, for a future in which Dublin and other European cities have secure and widespread drone usage.
Healy has spoken extensively about Ireland’s potential within the drone ecosystem. “If we were from Lithuania, Poland or wherever, as a company, Ireland would still be where we’d be operating because it’s got everything we need,” he told us last year.
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Updated, 10.50am, 1 April 2025: This article was amended to include a quote from founder Bobby Healy.
