Innovative Swedish drone delivery company Aerit files for bankruptcy

Innovative Swedish drone delivery company Aerit is no more, having filed for bankruptcy after struggling to secure additional investment needed to continue operating.

Aerit was founded in 2021, and aimed to transform the logistics industry using cutting-edge autonomous robotic technology and an artificial intelligence-enriched drone system. The startup had tested and initiated UAV delivery service in at least two major areas of Sweden.

Just last March the company said it would be launching operation to homes in the Värmdö area near Stockholm, but lack of funding quickly put an end to that – as well as the company.

Aerit had been backed during its three years of drone delivery work by Swedish supermarket chain ICA, Research Institutes of Sweden, and the nation’s the nation’s transport agency Transportstyrelsen. 

Its efforts included drone deliveries to areas that, despite their proximity to major Swedish urban areas, remain difficult to access in harsh winter conditions. For that reason, Aerit prepared its activity by testing beyond visual line of sight flights in inclement conditions of heavy snow and wind, aiming to provide an aerial provisional option to residents.

Aerit based its delivery operation around its Nimbi drone. The craft can fly up to 12 kilometers, carrying as much as four kilograms in unusual, downward-hanging oblong payload carrier. 

Despite its previous and recent success in preparing launches of new drone delivery networks, Aerit said lack of funding has forced it halt operation, and liquidate the company. All its assets, including aerial tech and ownership rights, are up for sale to what presumably will be established UAV service providers looking to repurpose them.

“We are immensely proud of the impact we have had on the Swedish ecosystem and the drone industry as a whole,” said Alexander Perrien CEO of Aerit. “Our world-class, trailblazing team moved mountains in the most challenging conditions. We continue to have high hopes for a more equitable, sustainable, and accessible future, but Aerit, at least in its most recent form, will not be a part of it. We believe that under new ownership, the technology and vision we have developed can continue to thrive and make a significant impact on the future of logistics.”