Devana Aero Belgrade to develop drone with 50 kg of load-bearing capacity – New age tractor

Belgrade-based Devana Aero, which develops new aviation technologies and products, was founded as a joint investment of Konelek and Devana Technologies in 2016. At this year's Delta Business Incubator, they placed among the 6 best teams with their project of the development of a drone with an increased load-bearing capacity.

The initial idea, the company told eKapija, came from Vladimir Prelovac, who is also the main financier and a former owner of Devana Technologies.

– He saw an opportunity in such a product in America, especially when it comes to human transport and that's how the project task began. At one point, we realized that there were obstacles to such a product for human transport in regulations and we decided to develop a cargo aircraft as an in-between step – Devana Aero explains for our portal.

The company only develops this project, whereas the workforce is rented from the parent company Konelek. Around 10-15 employees took part in the design and the building of the aircraft at different points, whereas certain components and subsystems were made by suppliers.

The products are meant to be able to lift cargo of up to 50 kg. The range of application is wide and includes cargo transport to sea wind farms and oil rigs, transport of heavier professional TV cameras, early detection and neutralization of forest fires, mosquito spraying, delivery of medical cargo to hard-to-reach areas, quick responses in emergencies, military and defense purposes and agriculture – vineyard and raspberry field spraying in inaccessible terrains.

The company says that the importance of this project is in the fact that “automated agriculture is the agriculture of the future”.

– In the automated agriculture, a drone which can transport cargo will be the new age tractor, used for spraying and other purposes. A fully automated robot will replace a part of the workforce, especially now that there's a demand for workforce in Serbia and in Europe. The sooner this is realized, the sooner we will catch up with the world and maybe even get an advantage – the company explains for our portal.

Renting a drone costs around EUR 15-30 per hectare depending on the area that needs to be covered, and it costs around USD 50,000 to buy one. As for the sales, Devana Aero has made several agreements on representation in Denmark, Scandinavia, the Middle East and Africa.

The participation in Delta Business Incubator enabled them to test the product in realistic conditions and to understand the advantages and the flaws of the product and the business plan, as well as the possibilities for an upgrade.

Their plan is to further develop the product and to find the first clients, after which they will expand the platforms for other uses.

J. Simeunovic

DEVANA AERO d.o.o. Beograd

Konelek Zemun

Devana Technologies d.o.o. Beograd

Delta Business Incubator

Vladimir Prelovac

cargo aircraft

cargo drone

drone with increased load bearing capacity

cargo transport to sea wind farms and oil rigs

transport of heavier professional TV cameras

early detection and neutralization of forest fires

mosquito spraying

delivery of medical cargo to hard to reach areas

quick responses in emergencies

military and defense

vineyard and raspberry field spraying

automated agriculture

drone

drone development