"I'm really sorry, I've been too busy lately!" Nearly 30 minutes later than the agreed interview time, Zhang Lei, CEO of Hangzhou Xunant Network Technology Co., Ltd., hurriedly pushed the door into the conference room.
Prior to this, Zhang Lei had just returned from a business trip to Suzhou. Halfway through the interview, he went to the next room to receive new visitors, and returned half an hour later to continue chatting until 7:30 p.m., when he stood up again, apologized for two more events ahead, and then hurried out. In recent months, Zhang Lei has been much busier than the same period in previous years.
Zhang Lei, CEO of Xunant Technology, courtesy of the interviewee.
From Zhang Lei's full itinerary, it can be seen how hot the low-altitude economic industry he is in is now. At the end of last year, the Central Economic Work Conference classified it as a strategic emerging industry. The 2024 government work report clearly mentions that it is necessary to accelerate the development of new quality productivity, actively cultivate emerging industries and future industries, and create new growth engines such as low-altitude economy. For this reason, some people say that 2024 is the first year of the low-altitude economy. But before that, Zhang Lei's company has been deeply engaged in the field of drone logistics for nearly 10 years.
In mid-March, Zhejiang Province held a special meeting to study and plan the construction of a strong civil aviation province and the development of low-altitude economy. At the meeting, there were 4 companies that spoke, and Xun Ant Technology was one of them. A leader asked, why haven't I seen the takeaway delivered by your drone? Zhang Lei replied, in fact, we have delivered more than 20,000 cups of coffee.
In the eyes of many people, although the term low-altitude economy is hot, it is still a vague concept. "For example, if you haven't experienced drone delivery of coffee, the low-altitude economy is a question mark, and if you have experienced it, the low-altitude economy is just the cup of coffee that flies over. Zhang Lei explained.
Teenager hot-blooded
Zhang Lei has loved airplanes since he was a child, not only loves to see airplanes everywhere, but also loves to study with his hands. During the college entrance examination, he gave up the opportunity to be sent and applied for an unpopular major at that time, the aircraft design major of Beihang University, and studied until he got a doctorate.
In 2013, Zhang Lei happened to see on the Internet that the American companies Amazon and Google had launched plans related to drone logistics. This reminded him of a lecture he had attended in college, and the speaker was Cheng Buji, the first generation of aircraft designers in New China and the deputy chief designer of China's first large civil aircraft "Yun-10". At that time, in the face of many juniors in the audience, Cheng sincerely revealed some undeclared regrets from time to time. This regret touched Zhang Lei and aroused the enthusiasm in his young heart.
At this time, this blood stirred again. As a professional staker, Zhang Lei saw an opportunity from this news. "If you don't give it a go and get involved, you will be disappointed and regretful when you look back one day. Zhang Lei made another analogy, "It's like participating in a game, you don't care whether it's the first or the fifth, the important thing is to play, and you have to leave a little trace in the historical process." ”
Two years later, Zhang Lei resigned from the software company he worked for and started a business with his partner. He inspected Beijing, Changsha and other places, and finally chose to return to Hangzhou. At that time, the entrepreneurial atmosphere in Hangzhou was very high, and the government support was sufficient, and Yuhang District took the initiative to accept this innovative enterprise "starting from scratch".
The drone flew over the gate of Hangzhou, courtesy of the interviewee.
The office building of Xunant Technology is located in the Future Research and Innovation Park in Yuhang District, Hangzhou, surrounded by many large and small science and technology parks, and almost all of them are innovative enterprises. When Zhang Lei first arrived here nine years ago, there was still a large area of farmland nearby, and there were not even buildings. But in Zhang Lei's eyes, these are all advantages: "It is particularly good for our UAV logistics companies, this piece, fly casually, test casually." ”
At the beginning of the business, the domestic drone logistics and distribution industry was not optimistic, Zhang Lei took the plan to find investors and repeatedly hit a wall, the company's start-up capital is still he and his partners scraped together. But fortunately, in less than a year, the domestic UAV industry consumption and venture capital market ushered in an active period, Xun Ant on the basis of the existing UAV products on the second development of a load of 1 kg, can fly hundreds of meters of samples, and got millions of yuan of investment. At this time, Zhang Lei seemed to see some light on the way forward.
Business Exploration
In the building of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, all the aircraft for which it has issued flight licenses are displayed. Airbus and Boeing are scaled-down models, and next to them are the original drones of Swiftant Technology. In 2019, Zhang Lei moved the drone into the window of the Civil Aviation Administration out of breath alone. In that year, Xunant Technology obtained the world's first urban drone logistics trial operation license issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, number 0001.
Xun Ant Technology got the first urban logistics operation license, courtesy of the interviewee
For a time, Xun Ant Technology was in the limelight. A TV station came over and wanted to invite Zhang Lei and his colleagues to shoot a three-day reality show, and everyone was very excited. Zhang Lei was on a business trip in Beijing, and in foggy weather, the tickets for the flights at the right time were sold out, leaving only one expensive first-class ticket. Zhang Lei gritted his teeth and bought the ticket.
Looking back, I was a little proud and complacent. Zhang Lei commented. Facts have proved that the TV did not bring much practical effect to the company, but made everyone's hearts a lot more impetuous. Glamour is momentary, and it doesn't mean anything in the long run. "With those three days of shooting, it's better to calm down and think about what to do next. Zhang Lei sighed.
Compared with the heat of attention from the outside world, Zhang Lei is facing a difficult problem at this time: the exploration of industry application scenarios is very difficult, and without scenarios, there is no prospect of commercialization.
In 2016, Zhang Lei first tried commercialization in the vast and sparsely populated countryside. The company opened the first domestic drone mail route in Anji, Zhejiang, and in the second year, it carried out cross-sea distribution, and the drone started from Shanting Town, Putian City, Fujian Province, and flew all the way to Meizhou Island.
But whether it is a mountain or an island, the road of rural commercialization is difficult to navigate. After all, high frequency and high added value are the basic conditions for the commercialization of drone logistics, and the demand for rural scenarios is low frequency, low added value and discrete, which cannot form a dense transportation network. That difficult exploration is now used by Zhang Lei as an analogy for climbing a mountain: "There is a smoky mountain in front of you, if you can't go to the left, go around to the right, but you won't go back, and you won't stop here." ”
After learning a lesson and returning to the city, Zhang Lei began to focus on exploring which urban scenarios drone logistics can be rolled out. Where there are large orders and high demand, you should go there.
"Drone logistics adapts to more urgent demand scenarios, and the hospital scene brings together people who are in a hurry. Zhang Lei pondered that relying on drone logistics to solve the urgent medical needs can form a commercial closed loop. In 2020, Xunant Technology chose to make efforts in the field of medical transportation. In Yuhang District, with the health service center as the core, it radiates more than 10 surrounding primary health stations, and the blood and other test samples taken by residents at the primary health stations are transported by drones and can be directly tested at the health service center, making the hierarchical diagnosis and treatment more operable. Air blood transport routes can also be opened between blood banks and hospitals. Today, this model covers almost all the whole province of Zhejiang and other cities in the Yangtze River Delta such as Nanjing, Wuxi, Suzhou, and Hefei.
Building the first medical network, courtesy of the interviewee.
In addition, what are the application scenarios? Zhejiang University's Moganshan Campus is located in a remote area, and students have a hard time ordering takeout. In 2022, at the entrance of the school cafeteria, Xunant Technology set up an "airport", the drone fell steadily, the staff put the cargo box into the storage cabinet, and the students opened the cabinet door with the QR code, and they could get the steaming fried chicken and French fries they ordered. This line has only been piloted for one month, and there are more than 500 orders. At present, drones deliver more than 100 takeaways every day.
In October last year, Xun Ant Technology set up 6 take-off and landing points for rope-landing drones in Luogang Park, Hefei. Visitors camping in the park can place an order for takeaway by scanning the QR code on the target, and the drone does not have to land, but instead of landing on the target, it will drop a rope near the target for the orderer to pick up the food, and more than 1,000 orders have been delivered since the trial operation.
However, it must be confronted that at present, all the consumption scenario projects of drone takeaway delivery are still in trial operation on a small scale, and most of them are subsidized by the local government. When will it be large-scale promotion? Will it be convenient enough? Will individual consumers be willing to pay for relatively high delivery fees? The time may not be ripe to completely open up the mass consumer market.
Take advantage of the low altitude
In the 9th year of the company's establishment, the industry has heated up again. In the eyes of some laymen, the low-altitude economy seems to have been born out of nowhere, and it has ushered in opportunities for related enterprises. There are still many people who want to know how to get into the game and find opportunities in the industry.
In the face of all kinds of waves in the outside world, Zhang Lei's mentality became more and more peaceful. After 9 years of hibernation, he joked that he was "not chanting scriptures, nor waiting for dawn".
Over the years, Zhang Lei has experienced some quite difficult moments. At the most difficult time for the enterprise, there was almost no salary, and even the paper in the office was stretched. And the hardest decision he thought he had ever made was for his teammates to leave. Speaking of these scenes again, Zhang Lei can already explain calmly: "It's like when climbing a mountain, there is a forest with flowers blooming better, everyone looks back, and some people say I don't want to leave, I want to stay here, I can't drag him away." ”
In the past 9 years, Zhang Lei has experienced flowers, applause and confusion, loneliness, and now, he once again confirmed that the development of drone logistics must rely on the organic combination of technology and policy, just like pushing open a door, technology is the driving force, policy is the damper, and work together to push the door open, in order to reach the new world.
The drone flew to the Hefei Maternal and Child Health Hospital, courtesy of the interviewee.
In the past two years, the company's business has expanded a lot. In Jinshan, Shanghai, Xunant Technology has partnered with vocational colleges to set up airlines on campus to train and train low-altitude economic talents, and in Wenzhou, Xunant Technology has recruited a new mechanism for flight operators to deliver seafood products to the community. As an enterprise with only more than 80 employees, recruiting third-party operation partners can solve the problem of urban expansion to a certain extent, Xunant Technology only needs to provide drone equipment, operation platforms and solutions, and technical guidance, and the specific local operations can be taken over by third-party partners, just like Airbus and Boeing, which set up airlines around the world to minimize investment on the basis of ensuring safe operation.
In the interview, Zhang Lei also revealed that Xun Ant Technology has reached a number of cooperation with Hefei, and soon the company's "Urban Air Mobility Technology Application Headquarters" will be settled in Baohe District. He predicted that this year, the company's promotion business across the country will have a large revenue, and it is expected to achieve profitability.
Of course, it's far from the time to reach the top. The outbreak of large-scale consumption scenarios has not yet arrived. Even in terms of technology, there are still many problems that need to be solved, such as the current immaturity of the full air autopilot system. In addition, the preparation of supporting infrastructure and the construction of the air flight system also rely on the cooperation of multiple departments.
But there is no doubt that grasping the low altitude is the way to go. Zhang Lei said that he no longer coveted the distracting beauty around him during the climb, and he did not want to look back, but just climbed up.
If you want to look back, you may see a scene: In Zhang Lei's freshman year, Qi Fayun, a space technology expert and chief designer of the Shenzhou spacecraft, gave a big class at Beihang University, and the huge classroom was full.
The bell rang, and before Qi Fayun walked out of the classroom, he was surrounded by enthusiastic students. Because of the young man's temperament, Zhang Lei stepped on the table with an arrow step, and rushed over to him with a roar to ask: If you want to become a chief designer like you, what should you do in college?
Now, Zhang Lei can't remember how Qi Fayun answered, perhaps, that answer is no longer important.
"If you had the opportunity to ask these seniors one more question today, what would you ask?" the reporter curious. "I'm not going to ask anything. Zhang Lei thought for a while, "I want to take him to see what we are doing and where the social value we are creating is." ”
Editor-in-chief: Kong Lingjun
Source: Author: Liu Chang