In February, a remarkable event occurred when a set of eyes was transported from a mortuary to a hospital in just 15 minutes using drone delivery, which otherwise would have taken 50–52 minutes via road transportation. The drone successfully covered an aerial distance of 8 km, ensuring the safe and timely delivery of the organ while maintaining the necessary cold chain temperature, Kishan Tiwari, Co-Founder and CEO of TSAW Drones, recalled.
This is one of the many success stories of drone tech start-up TSAW Drones, which is headquartered out of IIT Delhi. Founded in 2019, the company has been operating on an intercity model in Nizamabad and an intracity model in Kolkata. It is largely involved in the delivery of time-sensitive and perishable items such as organs, medicine, and key items for data centers.
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“Through our Nizamabad hub, we are covering 22 small towns and cities within a 50 km range.” According to Tiwari, the carrier predominantly operates within the green zone, which does not require special licenses. However, it has also obtained the required permits to fly on specific routes in Kolkata that fall under the yellow zone.
“Today, between the two routes, we are able to do 1,500–1,600 deliveries monthly,” he said. Flying at a height of 400 ft, these drone deliveries cut the average time taken by 50 per cent compared to other means of transport, said the CEO. To date, the company has completed 8,000 deliveries and has now set a target of delivering 1 million shipments by the end of this financial year.
Drone strategy
Speaking about the company’s delivery strategy, Tiwari said that they employ a comprehensive commodity delivery model, prioritising time-sensitive items on the top. “These include critical deliveries for data centers, organs, pharmaceuticals and medicines.”
At present, TSAW has a fleet of 12–15 operational drones, all manufactured by the start-up. Although it has six models such as Maruthi 2.0 (with a payload capacity of up to 20kg), Airavat (with a payload capacity of that up to 50kg and a range of 100 km), and Adarna 2.0 (with a payload capacity of up to 3kg), at present it is only using three specific drones: Adarna 2.0 mini, Adarna V2, and Maruthi 2.0.
Furthermore, as it plans to expand the fleet size to 300 drones within the next 18 months, it is also in the process of establishing a new manufacturing facility in Madhya Pradesh. “This will also enable us to venture into the sale of drones. Aligned with our expansion strategy, we intend to secure a pre-series funding round in the third quarter of this year. So far, we have raised $325K,” Tiwari noted.
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Currently, its clients include Tata 1MG, Medkaart in Hyderabad, and Kanhaiya Life Care Medicine in Kolkata.
The start-up will expand its operations by introducing an intercity route in July. “Noida to Aligarh will cover 90 km and Aligarh to Agra will cover 80 km. These would be two big hubs, and we are expanding on these primarily because many health centers fall on these routes,” he explained.
