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How this company is using drones to curb the spread of COVID-19

Draganfly CEO Cameron Chell joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss how it is implementing its technology to curb the spread of COVID-19. Recent partnerships include: the Alabama State Senate (to help detect potential COVID-19 in government buildings and ensure the ongoing operation of government) and Alabama State University (to disinfect arenas and stadiums).

Video Transcript

MYLES UDLAND: All right, welcome back to "Yahoo Finance Live." Myles Udland here in New York. As we continue to see the vaccine roll out here in the US, one company is hoping their drone technology will be a part of accelerating the pace of distribution. Cameron Chell is the CEO of Dragonfly, and he joins us now to discuss. So Cameron, let's talk a bit about where you hope to fit in to the vaccine rollout and what kind of timeline we're looking at.

CAMERON CHELL: Sounds great. Well, thanks for having me. Dragonfly's the oldest commercial drone operating company in the world. We're lucky enough to be a public company. DFLYF is our symbol. And we have multiple organizations, whether they're health agencies, whether they're vaccine distributors, approaching us now, looking at ways to get vaccines, whether it's the current COVID or whether it's ongoing vaccines, into challenged locations.

These might be remote locations. They might be locations that are hit by natural disasters. They might be locations that are offshore rigs. But really looking at the efficiency to be able to get this critical cargo on to places or at places or to people in a more efficient way.

JULIE HYMAN: So, Cameron, you guys are the designers of these drones. You don't make the finished product. So you've got this contract to develop this drone. What's the timeline for actually getting it out there, deploying it, doing the vaccine delivery?

CAMERON CHELL: Yeah, so what's different about Dragonfly is the fact that we provide a total solution. So whether it's the design of the drone or whether it's the design and manufacturing of the payloads, which is really important, because we're North American-based manufacturers so we can provide a total end-to-end secure situation, which is really important in the drone and the delivery industry or the data collection industry. And we actually have a full operations and flight services division as well.

So when somebody approaches us and whether they're worried about the actual payload, how it's going to be delivered, what the end result is, how the regulations need to be handled, they can come to us as a one-stop-shop, and we can ensure that that equipment or that that critical payload can be met. We just released a brand new patent on a particular delivery drone that is a vertical takeoff and horizontal flight drone and has a special way to balance the loads.

And so, whether it's that drone or whether it's larger turbine type drones, depending on the mission, we can provide anything that is required. And that's really the flexibility that's required in today's drone delivery market.

MYLES UDLAND: You know, Cameron, I think when a lot of folks like myself, who's not a drone expert, think about drones, we imagine, like, some dystopian future, where it's a small little Amazon thing bringing us a package at our home. But it sounds like a lot of the energy is really in the commercial space. And does it seem like that's going to be a more durable source of application for this technology, even as maybe consumers start to interact with this more?

CAMERON CHELL: Well, certainly the retail drone delivery is a great Jetson world utopic type of thought or view. But I'm not crazy about the thought of having drones buzzing over my head all the time. That said, that market is exploding and will be very viable.

Our focus certainly in the near term is really with our existing client base, which are military contractors, public safety organizations, large companies that are looking for mission critical payloads to get into situations, where it's less expensive and it's more efficient to use current drone technology. And regulations are leading to this. So we have immediate ROI that we can bring to our customers. I mean, our drones can fly in medical equipment and get there and be the first, first responder on scene.

And in fact, as they are coming into that situation, they can be taking the vital signs of the survivors or the crash accident victims or whatever it might be on the ground, minutes or even half hour or hours before any other first responder gets there. This is real application that has immediate ROI and why we're seeing our business scale so quickly right now.

BRIAN SOZZI: Cameron, you recently tapped an investment bank to explore a NASDAQ listing. Can you share what bank you're working with? And should we expect that listing in the first half of this year?

CAMERON CHELL: Yeah, I think we'll expect to see that listing in the next 60 to 90 days. Dragonfly is a full SEC reporting issue recurrently. So our filings are complete there, and it's really just a matter of working with the national market that we've applied to. So, if all goes relatively well or according to plan, we should see that happen in the next 60 to 90 days. We have engaged a well-known mid-market bank. We'll make that announcement in the next short while. And without even launching a book right now, we seem to have very strong demand.

But like I say, we're really, really focused on growing the business right now. We're on an exponential growth path. And we're really excited about the opportunity to capture and hopefully be the leader in this market.

MYLES UDLAND: All right, Cameron Chell is the CEO of Dragonfly. Cameron, really appreciate you taking some time this morning. And I know we'll be in touch as things go ahead for your business. And certainly, all eyes on the stock here. Been an interesting ride for you guys.

CAMERON CHELL: Thank you so much.

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