Finland’s famously harsh weather isn’t stopping food delivery drones from taking flight. After Helsinki’s annual Slush conference, TechCrunch got an inside look at a new three-way partnership between Irish drone company Manna, food delivery giant Wolt, and Finnish startup Huuva, a collaboration now powering drone-based food deliveries in the Helsinki metropolitan area.
Huuva, known for bringing popular restaurant brands to underserved suburbs, is using drones to speed up delivery times from its Niittari location in Espoo. Wolt customers placing orders from Huuva now see an option to have their meals delivered by drone “if available,” a feature entrepreneur Ville Leppälä says has been especially well received in suburban areas lacking diverse food choices.
The system builds on Manna’s experience completing more than 50,000 drone deliveries in Dublin. After a pilot that began in February, the drones have now been fully operational for two months in Espoo. Each drone can carry about 4.4 pounds, and Manna can dispatch two at once, making it possible to bundle restaurant meals with groceries from Wolt Market.
Beyond convenience, drones offer a major advantage: speed. Unlike human drivers, they don’t get stuck in traffic during peak hours. Leppälä says this ensures fresher food and could improve Huuva’s unit economics.
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Huuva estimates that traditional deliveries cost €5–6 per order, while drone deliveries could drop to €1, not including Manna’s setup costs. And despite Finland’s extreme climate, Manna’s drones, tested extensively in Ireland’s wind and rain, have adapted well. While icing is a challenge, operators simply switch to traditional couriers during unsafe conditions.
Wolt already uses sidewalk robots from Coco and Starship, and DoorDash, its parent company, has tested its own robot, Dot. With rumors that DoorDash may also be working on a drone program, partnerships like this one could be crucial for startups such as Manna and Huuva.
In Espoo, delivery workers shuttle food from the kitchen to the launchpad, where Manna’s team handles weight balancing, safety checks, and packaging using regulator-approved bags. Each drone flight is overseen remotely from Ireland, where Mission Control reviews LiDAR maps, confirms drop points, and authorizes delivery. If conditions aren’t safe, the order reverts to a regular courier.
Local staff currently handle double-digit drone deliveries per day, and they are preparing for their first full operational winter. Huuva now plans to expand drone delivery to additional locations, with one simple request: permission to put its logo on the delivery bags.
