German drone delivery company Wingcopter has announced the signing of a strategic partnership agreement with Itochu Corporation, which will act as a dedicated distributor for the Wingcopter 198 eVTOL delivery drone in Japan.
The Japanese conglomerate joins Wingcopter’s Authorized Partnership Program (WAPP) and will also make a strategic investment in Wingcopter.
Wingcopter added the partnership with Itochu further strengthens its expansion in Japan, one of the most important markets for drone delivery in the future, given the country’s progressive approach to integrating drones into everyday life.
“We expect Japan to become one of the most important regions for drone delivery applications in the upcoming years,” said Tom Plümmer, co-founder and CEO of Wingcopter.
“Therefore, we are convinced that Itochu, with the network and expertise in a huge variety of business sectors as well as the financial power of a Fortune Global 500 company, will help us serve more Japanese customers and allow us to jointly scale Wingcopter’s operations across Japan.”
Itochu joins existing investors Synerjet, Drone Fund, Expa, Xplorer Capital, Futury Capital, Hessen Kapital III, and Corecam Capital Partners.
“Drone delivery has the potential to revolutionise how we transport goods, and it can immediately improve the quality of life for many people across the globe,” said Takanori Morita, executive officer of Itochu.
“We believe Wingcopter is best positioned to become the market leader in this field with its superb product as well as capable and dedicated team. Ever since our establishment in 1858, Itochu’s corporate mission has been the spirit of “Sampo-Yoshi”, which means “good for the seller”, “good for the buyer” and “good for society”, and Wingcopter’s business epitomises this spirit.”
