Matternet raises $33 million, completes public listing deal

Drone delivery company Matternet has raised about $33 million through an oversubscribed private placement as part of a reverse merger transaction that has taken the company public, according to a statement issued by the company on May 28.

The California-based company said the financing was completed alongside its merger with Los Altos Ventures Corp., which has now been renamed Matternet Inc. and will continue the company’s business operations. Matternet claims the transaction establishes it as the first publicly reporting pure-play drone delivery company.

The financing round was led by new investors, including Ed Eisler of EE Holdings and Mark Tompkins of Montrose Capital Partners. Existing investors also participated in the placement. Matternet said the proceeds would support the launch of its next-generation drone delivery platform and help expand commercial operations in food, retail and healthcare sectors.

“As we enter the era of physical AI, we believe 2026 is the inflection point for drone delivery in the United States,” said Andreas Raptopoulos, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Matternet. “With recent regulatory advances and growing enterprise adoption, we believe the category is entering a phase of exponential growth. With this financing, we are accelerating the development and deployment of our next-generation drone delivery platform to power instant, autonomous delivery for restaurant, retail and healthcare leaders.”

Raptopoulos said drone delivery could offer an alternative to road-based last-mile delivery systems by using electric autonomous aircraft for transporting meals and retail products. He said the company has spent more than a decade developing aircraft systems, ground infrastructure, software, regulatory approvals and operational capabilities required for scaling drone delivery operations.

Matternet said it continues to expand across healthcare, logistics, restaurant and retail markets. The company has partnerships with UPS for healthcare logistics and with Dave's Hot Chicken in the restaurant delivery segment. In recent weeks, the company also announced a partnership with SoftBank Robotics America to support the deployment of a drone delivery network and launched drone delivery operations with the National Health Service in Central London.

The Benchmark Company and Seaport Global Securities acted as lead placement agents for the financing, while Montrose Capital Partners sponsored the reverse merger transaction. Following the merger, Matternet is now subject to public reporting requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Matternet develops the Matternet M2 drone, the Matternet Station and the Matternet Software Platform for urban and suburban drone logistics operations. The company said it was the first operator authorised for commercial Beyond Visual Line of Sight drone delivery operations over cities in Switzerland and the first company to secure standard Type Certification and Production Certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration for drone delivery operations.

The company said its drone technology has supported more than 60,000 commercial flights across urban and suburban areas in the United States and Europe. Its commercial operations began with humanitarian delivery missions in 2014 before expanding into healthcare logistics in Europe in 2017 and the United States in 2019. Matternet later expanded into business-to-consumer drone delivery operations in Silicon Valley in 2024.