Manna Aero Plans Major U.S. Drone Delivery Expansion From Tulsa

Manna Aero is launching a U.S. operations and manufacturing facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as it moves to become a larger player in American drone delivery. The facility is expected to eventually employ about 1,000 people over the next several years. Construction is underway, and founder and CEO Bobby Healy expects manufacturing to begin there in about a year.

As construction continues, Manna plans to scale its operations team to about 200 to 300 people over the next 12 months. The pace of factory hiring will depend on growth outside Tulsa, with the company assessing six other U.S. cities. If the plan stays on track, Manna expects to begin entering those cities by the end of 2027.

Manna operates automated, remotely monitored drones that do not land; instead, they lower packages on a tether. The company uses a hybrid business model built around delivery-as-a-service, charging per flight while also working through partnerships and its own consumer-facing app. Its European partnerships include DoorDash, Deliveroo, and Uber Eats.

Manna is shifting capital and resources toward the United States after pulling back drone delivery operations in Ireland, where it cited a lack of planning regulations that would allow it to scale. Healy pointed to U.S. market size, consumer behavior, delivery aggregator consolidation, and the regulatory environment as reasons for the move. The company aims to compete with Zipline, Amazon, Google’s Wing, and others in U.S. drone delivery.