This year’s awards season is a really good one for drone start-ups.

After the recent exploits of Delta Scan in South Africa and Wingcopter in Germany, Dutch drone logistics start-up Avy has won the AFAS Young Business Award 2023, securing not only the Crystal award but also the coveted Best Young Company in the Netherlands award.

The start-up beat stiff competition from other start-ups, who included interior design company Naduvi, curated second-hand furniture store Reling, and tex.tracer; a fashion transparency ecosystem platform.

Avy itself develops life-saving unmanned aircraft systems, which are designed for critical tasks like delivering urgent medicines and aiding in disaster response.

The Patrique Zaman-led start-up has lofty ambitions, with dreams of becoming the ‘Airbus of the drone industry’, with a modular, high-tech drone controlled from their Amsterdam exchange.

Avy’s Aera model of delivery drones have made sojourns in Africa, namely in Benin, where they were part of a medical delivery project and also in Botswana where the government worked in technology partners to test the effectiveness of drone technology in delivering medical supplies to rural parts of the country.

“It is my dream to make the aviation industry innovatively more sustainable with autonomous and emission-free drone flights,” CEO Zaman said.

“To ensure that we can save more lives on a daily basis, that when you call 112 (the Dutch emergency line), help is always nearby, regardless of location or accessibility. This award is a great reward for the team after all these years of hard work.”

Founded in 2016 by CEO Zaman, Avy is one of the first companies in the Netherlands to operate automated long-distance flights.

The start-up also obtained its Light UAS Operator Certificate (LUC) in the ‘Specific’ category this year, enabling it to perform self-authorising Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights within the European Union.

The Avy Aeras are used to transport urgent medical supplies, locating missing persons, tracing drowning individuals, and providing assistance during incidents and disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and wildfires.

The company’s solutions also include a docking station for charging and standby, and a software suite.

Avy has also revealed that it is working on the next iteration of its drone; the Aera 4, which is set to revolutionise emergency response across Europe.

With wings enabling ten times the range of typical drones, it addresses challenges in meeting the seven-minute arrival time.

The drone is equipped with infrared and RGB cameras that serve various purposes such as rapidly identifying wildfires, locating people in distress at sea, detecting oil leaks, and assessing accidents. Its functionality extends to medical emergencies by including a Medkit—a specialised medical refrigerator—for transporting critical medicines like donor blood.

The drone’s dual-purpose design enhances Avy Aera’s utility in both emergency response and medical transport scenarios. Fully weatherproof, the Aera 4 will be capable of flying in heavy rain and winds (up to 7 on the Beaufort wind scale). With an eight-litre (3kg) carrying capacity, it achieves speeds over 125 km/h and covers distances up to 100 kilometres.