On the back of Manna’s breakthrough with partnering supermarket giant, Tesco, for trial drone deliveries in Ireland, Greenman Investments, a Dublin-based property investment firm and asset manager, has made its first foray into the tech sector by backing the Irish drone company, reports irishtimes.com. Existing investors include Dynamo Ventures, Elkstone and Frontline Ventures who all participated in the most recent investment round, the value of which has not been disclosed.
As part of the deal, Greenman is to partner with Manna via its OPEN real estate fund to put together a pilot program offering delivery services next year, in what will be the first trial of Manna’s technology in mainland Europe. Greenman, which has EU850 million of assets under management, said it intends to make further investments in tech businesses that are operating in the food retail space.
Bobby Healy
Ronayne O’Mahony, director of expansion at Greenman, said, “This is an exciting investment particularly as it is our first in the technology space. We believe that tech companies and platforms such as Manna have the potential to be at the cutting edge of the future grocery delivery model and are delighted to be partnering with them as they begin this journey.”
Currently, 0.5 percent of all grocery transactions in Germany take place in a Greenman OPEN-owned store, which O’Mahony said means the company is “well placed to prepare and plan for the future and become a leading voice in the discussion on the future of grocery retail in Europe.
CEO and Founder of Manna, Bobby Healy, presently has the midas touch given the drone delivery company goes from strength to strength. The latest trials with Tesco delivering groceries to residents in Oranmore, Co Galway, began this week.
Recent UAMN Articles on Bobby Healy and Manna
He told the Irish Times, “Getting Greenman on-board is a great endorsement for our European plans and I am delighted to have the company join us as a backer.”
The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has yet to give the go-ahead for Manna to launch its delivery services widely around Ireland, but the company is in talks with regulators and remains optimistic.
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(News Source: https://www.irishtimes.com)
