Dubai-based last-mile smart delivery startup Flyby raises $1M in seed round

Flyby, a Dubai-based smart delivery startup and digital OOH company, has raised a seed funding of $1 million. The funding was led by FHS Capital based in Silicon Valley, USA, and VN2 Capital of London.

The funding has helped the startup emerge out of stealth.

With this round of funding, Flyby aims to launch a fleet of smart delivery boxes in Dubai, scale up, and develop its technology.

Hesham Hannah-Shmouni, Managing Partner, FHS Capital, said in a note that Flyby has the potential to disrupt multiple industries and create value across the last-mile delivery ecosystem.

Flyby has an embedded UV lighting system that sanitises the contents of the box on each delivery. The boxes also have embedded sensors with telemetry data, including GPS position, acceleration, and speed.

Flyby's patented smart delivery boxes, designed in Germany, can also double up as mobile advertising spaces for use by fleet operators and restaurants.

The boxes, which comprise high-contrast digital outdoor LED displays, are connected through a cloud-interface, said the note. The interface allows advertisers to book ad spaces directly. It also allows per-minute advertising and scale from a single bike to a fleet of thousand bikes.

The startup's technology has the potential to facilitate location-based advertising, with geo-fencing capability. The boxes have the ability to track rider behaviour and address road safety challenges, said the note.

The startup is working with industry regulators to ensure compliance with safety and data standards and guidelines. Flyby is expected to be seen on the streets of Dubai in the first quarter of 2023.

The OOH market in MENA is expected to touch $54 billion by 2026.