Yesterday, I had the incredible opportunity to meet the CEO of Manna, Bobby Healy in my Global Business of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics class at MIT Sloan Business School. Bobby is originally from Ireland and started Manna in 2019. I really love his start up and I think it will be the future of delivering consumer goods to people. Let me first give you a rundown of what exactly Manna does.

Manna is a drone company that will take consumer products (Coffee, sandwiches, beer, etc.) from a local company store in a suburb to someone’s residential house. It is like uber eats; however, it uses a drone to deliver the product. The artificial intelligence and robotics that go into this drone are incredible. Manna drones must identify the best path to travel through the air, where to land, and how to avoid other objects in the air. It is truly an incredible technology that will flourish in many places around the world.

When Manna first starts to operate in a town, it uses GIS technology to scan the ground for possible stores to use as a “home base” and identifies no fly zones (such as schools). After it figures out where to operate, the drones use its technology to find the best place to hover when people order from the app. When a customer orders coffee from their local shop, Manna will inform the customer the exact time and location the drone will drop off the coffee. When the drone arrives at the residential location, it will drop the package off as the drone hovers about 15 meters above the ground. It is an incredible technology.

Right now, Manna only exists in European towns and suburbs. The regulatory process in Europe is a few years ahead of the United States; therefore, they are focusing on delivering food to European cities and suburbs. Manna drones work very well in condensed areas; however, the drones cannot fly in downtown areas where there are tall buildings.

Have you ever waited for a long time for uber eats to deliver your food? Is traffic so bad that you can’t go get it yourself? Manna drones eliminates all these issues, and you are guaranteed to get your item very quickly. It will revolutionize the consumer delivery industry

I am a huge fan of Manna and I think this company will be super successful in the future. I really hope they come to the United States. When Manna becomes a publicly traded stock, I will surely be investing in them. I want to thank Bobby for coming in and talking to us.

I had the opportunity to talk to Bobby after class and he has incredible energy and passion for what he does. I wish Bobby and Manna nothing but the best, and I am looking forward to seeing Manna drones delivering my coffee in the morning soon!