The Irish-based company revolutionising rural deliveries with drones and robotic hubs
Etienne Louvet is the founder of Iona, a B2B company developing a high-tech delivery network that combines autonomous systems, robotics and drones to solve the problem of scattered delivery destinations and high-cost last-mile deliveries.
Last-mile deliveries are often the most expensive part of any delivery service and a big overhead for
logistics
companies using conventional transport. Vans make sense for heavier loads taking direct routes. Drones make sense for lighter loads going to awkward or more remote places, and the Iona platform allows companies to integrate drone delivery into their existing fleets, thereby cutting costs, improving efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and gaining easier access to isolated and rural areas.
The idea for Iona began to form in Louvet's mind during Covid when he was working on a paper about new delivery methods for autonomous logistics. What pushed him in the direction of drones, however, was seeing his 92-year-old grandmother struggling to get groceries and medication delivered to her home in rural France as the pandemic dragged on.
'Access to delivery is particularly crucial for rural residents and they need to be offered the same delivery price and the same goods as anyone else,' Louvet says. 'With Iona, logistics providers can turn last-mile into the most profitable segment while also expanding their capacity to offer additional services such as just-in-time and emergency deliveries.'
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Louvet set up his company in London in 2021 but relocated to Ireland last year to overcome a number of challenges holding up its development including customs issues caused by Brexit and a desire to be closer to potential EU deeptech VCs, which are thin on the ground. Iona is based in Shannon with a berth at
Dogpatch Labs
in Dublin. The company employs 14 people.
Investment to date is around €5 million, mainly from angel investors, and the company has been designated as a HPSU (high performance start-up) by
Enterprise Ireland
. Iona will make its money by charging customers a percentage on delivery revenues. Potential customers are logistics/delivery companies such as
An Post
or DHL and the Iona platform will travel internationally.
One of the key features that differentiates Iona within its segment is its drones' ability to carry larger loads over longer distances – specifically, cargo of up to 20kg for distances of 100-200km.
The company's patented Sonnet Quad drone (which Louvet says is a lot quieter than the short-hop delivery drones currently causing controversy in Dublin) features a tilt rotor for vertical take-off and landing and forward flight for hyper-efficiency. The unit itself is powered by batteries similar to those found on an e-bike and the highly specialised air frame is made in Galway.
Iona's back office set-up comprises a robotics system that works in tandem with a series of strategically placed hubs to facilitate battery swaps and parcel dispatch, and an AI-powered digital infrastructure that underpins interactions with telecoms and fleet management systems, for example.
'We combine all of these elements into a white-label solution that will work for any delivery operator large or small. Indeed, companies can start with just one drone. We offer a very low break-even point per parcel so they can deliver anywhere and to everyone,' says Louvet, who adds that Sonnet Quad is uniquely optimised for rural last-mile logistics with a modular cargo bay and precise flight dynamics features that make it more efficient and adaptable than existing medical drones, suburban multi-copters or heavy-lifter unmanned aerial vehicles.
Iona expects to go public with its technology in 2026 and as its drones will operate in Irish airspace they must meet the necessary safety and operational regulations. For this reason the drones are ultimately under the control of Iona as the certified operator.
'Flying autonomously and profitably in unsegregated airspace requires stringent regulatory approval, and our end-to-end platform is built around these requirements, allowing third party logistics operators to operate at scale confidently and cost-effectively,' Louvet says.
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