Grubhub taps drone startup Dexa for New Jersey aerial delivery pilot

March 11 (Reuters) – Grubhub and drone technology company Dexa announced a three-month pilot program on Wednesday to introduce aerial food delivery services to customers in Green Brook, New Jersey.

Beginning next week, customers within a 2.5-mile radius of Grubhub-owner Wonder’s Green Brook location will be able to order on the app and opt for drone delivery at no extra charge beyond the standard delivery and service fees.

The move adds to intensifying competition in the autonomous delivery space, where rivals DoorDash and Uber Eats are also aggressively pursuing drone and robotic delivery partnerships.

Wonder, a food hall and delivery startup, had acquired Grubhub from Dutch company Just Eat Takeaway for $650 million last year. That was 91% less than the $7.3 billion Just Eat Takeaway had paid four years earlier.

The aerial delivery service will be powered by Dexa’s DE-2020, a fully automated aircraft that lowers food orders to the ground on a cable.

Dexa is one of only four U.S. companies that both builds and flies delivery drones, which have received full federal aviation approval — a certification that has proven difficult for much of the industry to obtain.

Grubhub said it would evaluate the pilot’s results before deciding whether to bring drone delivery to additional restaurant partners in the area. A public demonstration is scheduled for March 16 ahead of the launch.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)