Flirtey (later rebranded SkyDrop) was a

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

-based

drone Drone or The Drones may refer to: Science and technology Vehicle * Drone, a type of uncrewed vehicle, a class of robot ** Unmanned aerial vehicle or aerial drone *** Unmanned combat aerial vehicle ** Unmanned ground vehicle or ground drone ** Unma ...

delivery company. The company completed the first

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

(FAA)-approved drone delivery in the United States in 2015, the first FAA-approved urban delivery in March 2016 and the first FAA-approved commercial drone delivery to a customer home in July 2016. Flirtey is also developing

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

computer software for drones in a collaboration with

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

. One of the company's drones is in the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...

of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

History

The company was founded in Australia in 2013 by Matt Sweeny, Ahmed Haider and Tom Bass. The company relocated to the Reno, Nevada area in 2014 after partnering with the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...

. Flirtey completed the first FAA-approved drone delivery in July 2015, when it delivered medical supplies to a health clinic in

Wise, Virginia Wise is a town in Wise County, Virginia. The population was 2,970 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Wise County. It was originally incorporated as the town of Gladeville in 1874. The town's name was changed to Wise in 1924, after Hen ...

. In August 2015, Flirtey graduated from the Silicon Valley seed accelerator,

Y Combinator Y Combinator, LLC (YC) is an American technology startup accelerator and venture capital firm launched in March 2005 which has been used to launch more than 5,000 companies. The accelerator program started in Boston and Mountain View, Californi ...

. In March 2016, the company flew the first federally sanctioned drone delivery in an urban area without the assistance of a human operator when it carried emergency supplies to a house in

Hawthorne, Nevada Hawthorne is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mineral County, Nevada, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,118. It is the county seat of Mineral County. The nearby Hawthorne Army Depot is th ...

. Researchers from

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established in 1893 following the construction of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, th ...

collaborated with Flirtey to complete the first ship to shore drone delivery in the United States in June 2016. The FAA-approved flight consisted of two parts. First, the drone delivering medical samples flew from land to a barge floating in New Jersey's

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States, lying between the states of Delaware and New Jersey. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltw ...

. Then, the drone was loaded with medical supplies and delivered its cargo to the

Cape May–Lewes Ferry The Cape May–Lewes Ferry is a ferry system on the East Coast of the United States that traverses a crossing of the Delaware Bay connecting North Cape May, New Jersey with Lewes, Delaware. The ferry constitutes a portion of U.S. Route 9 and ...

terminal. In July 2016, Flirtey partnered with

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founde ...

to complete its first fully autonomous FAA-approved home delivery to a residence in Reno, Nevada. This was the first time a U.S. customer has been delivered a package by a drone. In January 2017, Flirtey raised $16 million in Series A funding led by

Menlo Ventures Menlo Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California with an additional office in San Francisco, California. The firm was founded as one of the earliest venture capital firms in Silicon Valley in 1976 and provides technology ...

. In May 2018, the FAA announced 10 drone programs, including Flirtey, for its Integration Pilot Program that expands permissions to included programs that would typically need specific FAA permits due to airspace regulations. Five of the 10 selected projects involve package delivery. Flirtey is working with four of the winning applicants selected by the program and will use drones as a first response to 911 calls in Reno, Nevada by delivering defibrillators in heart attack cases before an ambulance arrives to allow bystanders to deliver first aid. Flirtey was also included on CNBC's Disrupter 50 list in 2018. In October 2021, the company announced a partnership with

Mesa Air Group Mesa Air Group, Inc. is a Nevada Corporation commercial aviation holding company with headquarters at 410 North 44th Street, Suite 700 in the Camelback East area of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. The company operates one regional airline subsi ...

involving an order of four drones with an option for 50 more. Mesa plans to use Flirtey Eagle drones to begin conducting food and beverage deliveries. On 26 February 2024, Sweeney announced on LinkedIn that the company was shutting down.

References

{{reflist, 2 American companies established in 2015 Companies based in Reno, Nevada Unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturers 2013 establishments in Australia Australian companies established in 2013 Unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturers of the United States