Speedbird Aero

Speedbird Aero

Speedbird Aero builds and operates cargo drones for last-mile and medical logistics. It is Brazilian in origin and operations, though it now describes dual headquarters in Brazil and Portugal, with a Porto office added in 2024 and further sites in Jacareí, Brazil, and Phoenix, Arizona. Trade coverage reports that founders Samuel Salomao and Manoel Coelho began designing delivery drones in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2018 and moved the business to Brazil because ANAC, the Brazilian civil aviation regulator, was approving uncrewed commercial operations faster than the FAA. Coelho is chief executive.

Unlike most drone-delivery startups, Speedbird both manufactures the aircraft and runs the flights, and its differentiator is regulatory rather than technical: it holds approvals that its competitors in Brazil do not.

Aircraft and Operations

The company’s site lists a BIRD family spanning roughly 5–10 kg payload over 20–30 km (BIRD-S), 20 kg over 40 km (BIRD-M) and 80 kg over 70 km (BIRD-X). Its type-certified aircraft carry DLV designations; the DLV-1 was, per the company, the first drone to receive an ANAC type certificate, and the DLV-2 is the aircraft used for its urban delivery work. A DLV-4 VTOL has also been reported.

Speedbird has flown from Aracaju, in Sergipe state, since 2020, which it describes as the world’s longest-running commercial food drone delivery operation. It reports close to 40,000 missions across 14 countries since 2018, including mail flights for Royal Mail in the Orkney Islands. Named partners and customers include iFood, Grupo Fleury, Vale, BR Distribuidora, UrbanV and Skyports.

Regulatory Position and Funding

Speedbird says it is the only operator in Brazil certified by ANAC for beyond-visual-line-of-sight flight, with two aircraft approved for cargo. In October 2025 it received what it describes as ANAC’s first permanent authorisation for flights over populated areas, in Sergipe. In March 2026 ANAC approved routine BVLOS operations over densely populated urban areas — a shift from route-by-route approval toward something scalable.

In February 2026 the company closed a $5.8 million bridge round including iFood, Brazil’s largest food delivery platform, alongside funds from Portugal, the United States and Brazil. It said the round was intended to prepare a Series B expected by the end of 2026. Total funding raised and revenue are not disclosed.

Why It Matters

Speedbird is one of the few drone delivery operators anywhere running paid commercial flights over cities under a durable regulatory approval rather than a waiver. The March 2026 urban BVLOS approval is the more valuable asset than any airframe, and iFood’s investment gives it demand at a scale — iFood processed 180 million deliveries in January 2026 alone — that most of the sector cannot access.

The risks are ordinary startup risks. A $5.8 million bridge is small for a company that manufactures aircraft and operates a fleet, and the Series B is unclosed. Its regulatory advantage is national: the approvals do not travel, and its stated plan to return to the United States depends on the FAA’s Part 108 rule, which is outside its control. Delivery volumes remain small next to the ground network it is meant to supplement.