Irish drone delivery company Manna targets US regional expansion

As part of the major US expansion, Manna will establish a US operations and manufacturing centre in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Irish drone delivery service provider Manna is targeting US expansion following its recent decision to pause deliveries in Ireland over a lack of regulatory and planning considerations, according to media reports.

Reuters reported that the south-west of the US would be the company’s focus, partnering with companies such as DoorDash, McDonald’s and Uber Eats for food deliveries within the next two months.

Meanwhile, founder and CEO Bobby Healy told TechCrunch that Manna would establish a US operations and manufacturing centre in Tulsa, Oklahoma that will employ about 1,000 people over the next several years.

“This part of the US – Oklahoma, Texas, ⁠states around here – will really be the battleground for scaling up and proving all types of drone delivery globally,” Kenny Jacobs, Manna’s new executive chair and president, told Reuters from the launch of the company’s first full-scale US operation.

“The technology is proven. Now it’s about the commercial scalability and showing how quickly you can open up bases and deliver all types of things.”

He added that quick scaling at a low capital expenditure cost ⁠per base is possible, as each local drone launch site is no bigger than the area of four car parking spaces, and projected that Manna would operate from 40 bases across Tulsa, Oklahoma’s second-largest city, by mid-2027.

Healy told TechCrunch that manufacturing at the new plant, which is under construction, would begin in about a year’s time, giving Manna time to scale its operations team to between 200 and 300 people.

Of the US expansion, Healy said: “It’s just the size of the market here, consumer behaviour and the fact that the aggregators have consolidated the market so well, and they’re so well run. The United States has the market that everybody wants.”

He said that the company was assessing six more US cities for possible further expansion by the end of 2027, and added: “A company like us, we wouldn’t have had any plans to grow in the United States until the environment was ready from a regulatory standpoint to start growth, and so we’ve decided very clearly that now is the time for us to put every penny we have into the USA.”

Last month, Manna said it would take a “strategic pause” in operations in Ireland over what it described as a lack of a clear national framework surrounding drone technology, and would instead shift focus to the US, UK and other international markets where “regulatory, and planning frameworks are advancing and commercial drone delivery is accelerating”.

As of last month, the company employed nearly 200 people across engineering, technology, operations and corporate functions in Dublin. It said that future employment and planned expansion at local delivery hubs would not proceed for now. Earlier this year, the company announced around 300 new jobs in Ireland, alongside a $50m Series B raise.

Manna already has operational authorisation in both the US and UK, and anticipates full authorisation to operate in the United Arab Emirates.

Jacobs was appointed to his new role this week having previously served as CEO of Irish airports operator DAA, as well as working for Ryanair, Tesco and Metro Group.

Healy said of the appointment: “Kenny is one of the few executives who has scaled aviation, retail and digital businesses internationally and done so commercially. We are entering the most important phase in Manna’s history, taking Irish-built technology to the markets where commercial drone delivery is now a reality.

“Having Kenny as executive chair and president will give Manna the experience at scaling up operations and commercial partnerships.”

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Updated, 11.56am, 9 July 2026: This article was amended to include details of Kenny Jacobs’ career background and Bobby Healy’s comments on his appointment to his new role.