Picture a drone, and your first thought might be of military operations — particularly given the current headlines about Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel.
But in startups across Israel, engineers and entrepreneurs are reimagining these flying robots for remarkably different purposes: delivering your pizza, monitoring power lines for storm damage, cleaning skyscraper windows, and even picking ripe fruit from orchard trees.
The numbers tell the story: 149 Israeli drone startups have raised a collective $118 million this year alone, according to Startup Nation Central’s market analysis. Many of these companies are focused on military applications, but a growing cohort is working to develop non-military drone technology.
“While drones are often associated with military applications, we believe that the real transformative potential lies in their civilian use,” says Yariv Bash, CEO and cofounder of drone delivery startup Flytrex.
“Drones can provide faster, more efficient and sustainable solutions for everyday logistics — be it food delivery, retail …