Photographer / Robert Jones
CEO Dan O’Toole’s company, Arrive AI, debuted on the Nasdaq stock market index on May 15, becoming one of only 39 publicly traded companies in Indiana.
Joined by his wife and Arrive AI Vice President Stacy O’Toole, Dan rang the opening bell at the Nasdaq on July 3.
“We have about 400 investors that are coming out to join in on the celebration. Some people invested as soon as they could, back in 2020,” Stacy O’Toole said. “Just to listen to them talk about how excited they are and how much they believe in the company and my husband Dan. They said they knew he would take this someplace.”
More than a decade ago, inspiration struck for the invention that would build the Arrive AI brand while Dan was heading home from a business trip in Chicago.
“I was driving down Highway 47 in Sheridan, Indiana, which is kind of a rural, two-lane road boundaried by big fields on both sides. And somebody was flying a drone on my peripheral on my right-hand side,” Dan O’Toole said. “It caught my eye. And then I started thinking about drone delivery and this whole notion of autonomous delivery.”
The year was 2014, and Dan took notice of artificial intelligence as the next frontier.
“People were just starting to think about autonomous delivery, drone delivery, and how that was gonna happen,” Dan said. “I started thinking about how to safeguard every shipped and every delivered item.”
As an invention, the mailbox has not seen a significant makeover since its creation in 1858. With autonomous delivery on the horizon, Dan seized his chance to innovate on the layman’s letter box.
“You can’t just have this whole new autonomous delivery paradigm, and then not expect all these items to be stolen and damaged, struck by weather and things like that,” Dan said. “So while people were thinking about drones and robots, I really started thinking about how I can make the best mailbox, the best access point in the ecosystem.”
Dan joined the race for the autonomous mailbox patent, with giants in the transportation and warehousing sector hot on his heels.
“I ran to the patent office. I filed for my first patent for basically the autonomous mailbox,” Dan said. “And I beat Amazon by four days, the U.S. Postal Service by two weeks and other companies by less than a month.”
Since filing its initial patent, Arrive AI secured nine more patents in the U.S. Additionally, Arrive AI filed for or was awarded 58 patents throughout the world, each granting 20-year exclusivity on awarded claims.
“We own the center of autonomous delivery, not only here in the U.S., but throughout the world through our intellectual property portfolio,” Dan said.
Arrive AI’s mailboxes are called Arrive Points. They are 24/7 contactless drop-off points that work seamlessly with people, robots and drones. Just like a mailbox, Arrive Points can be placed at medical hospitals, schools, multifamily apartment complexes or residential homes. Arrive Points host a climate-controlled heated and cooled cargo area, with an emergency light feature that can beacon.
Arrive Points have already been integrated in the healthcare sector through the company’s partnerships with Hancock Health and Go-To Delivery. Hancock Health is a regional health network comprising more than 30 hospitals in East Central Indiana. Go-To Delivery is a pharmaceutical delivery company located on the East Coast.
“Healthcare is one of the first movers because they’re chain-of-custody-driven, privacy-driven,” Dan said. “Everything has to be documented and prioritized. Everything is high value.”
Arrive AI also announced a partnership with India-based Skye Air, one of the world’s largest drone delivery companies.
Launching at $13 per share under ticker symbol ARAI, Arrive AI’s stock soared to $40 before leveling out in the $10 to $13 range by July.
“I find myself watching the share price out of excitement. The first day gave us a $1.4 billion market cap,” Dan said. “A lot of people are finding out about us. We’re trading at a high volume, and I’m very bullish on where we’re going. We think the best is yet to come.”
Before going public, Arrive AI operated on crowdfunding.
“We are one of the most successful companies to ever crowdfund,” Dan said. “In the last four years, we raised $12 million.”
Now, Arrive AI is here to stay.
“We want everyone to know that we’re here. We’re a well-kept secret. We just went public. We’re on the Nasdaq,” Dan said. “People are excited about AI in ground-floor opportunities. If you missed Amazon. If you missed Google. Take note of Arrive AI and consider: is this the next big thing?”
Arrive AI is located at 12175 Visionary Way in Fishers. You can call 463-270-0092 or visit arriveai.com for more information.
