# Matt Sweeny

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**Matthew Sweeny** is an Australian-born aviation and technology entrepreneur and [inventor](/source/Inventor).[1] He is the co-founder and CEO of [Flirtey](/source/Flirtey), a drone delivery service.

## Education

Sweeny earned a bachelor's degree in international relations and philosophy from the [University of Sydney](/source/University_of_Sydney).[citation needed]

He became interested in [unmanned aerial vehicles](/source/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle) while studying economics in [Shanghai, China](/source/Shanghai,_China) on a scholarship and exchange program.[2] He built the prototype delivery drones in his dorm room.[3]

## Career

After graduating, Sweeny co-founded [Flirtey](/source/Flirtey) with Ahmed Haider and Tom Bass in 2013, as the first [drone delivery](/source/Delivery_drone) service in the world.[4] He moved to the United States in 2014 and based his company in [Reno, Nevada](/source/Reno,_Nevada), because the city was chosen by the [Federal Aviation Administration](/source/Federal_Aviation_Administration) as one of six test sites for commercial drones.[5] He partnered with the [University of Nevada, Reno](/source/University_of_Nevada,_Reno), established a Flirtey office on campus,[6] and hired graduates from the university’s Unmanned Autonomous Systems program.[7]

In 2014, Sweeny submitted evidence to the Internal Market, Infrastructure and Employment Sub-Committee of the House of Lords European Union Committee On The Civilian Use of Drones in the EU.[8]

After moving Flirtey to the United States, Sweeny was selected in [Y Combinator](/source/Y_Combinator_(company))’s summer 2015 program.[9][10]

In 2018, Sweeny was included on [CNBC](/source/CNBC)’s Disruptor 50 list.[11]

In 2023, Sweeny has directed the demise of his company with zero returns to investors.

## References

1. ["Australian start-up taking on Google, Amazon in drone delivery race"](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-17/australian-startup-flirtey-takes-on-google-in-drone-race/7416004). ABC. 17 May 2016.

1. Lim, Jason. ["Drone Startup Flirtey Partners with The University of Nevada, Reno To Push UAV Delivery Forward"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jlim/2014/09/08/drone-startup-flirtey-partners-with-the-university-of-nevada-reno-to-push-uav-delivery-forward/). *Forbes*

1. ["The Aussie Drone Company Revolutionising A Multi-Billion-Dollar Industry"](https://www.gq.com.au/entertainment/tech/the-aussie-drone-company-revolutionising-a-multibilliondollar-industry/news-story/a0cfc488c877fb2b59e0e3d2751e47dd). GQ. 31 March 2017.

1. Daniel, Zoe (17 May 2016). ["Game of Drones"](http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2015/s4464064.htm). [Foreign Correspondent](/source/Foreign_Correspondent_(TV_series)). Retrieved 28 July 2022.

1. Smiley, Lauren (5 October 2014). ["Reno: The biggest little drone city in the world?"](https://story.californiasunday.com/reno-drones). The California Sunday Magazine.

1. ["UNR to conduct drone research with Australian company"](https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2014/09/01/unr-conduct-drone-research-australian-company/14933873/). Reno Gazette Journal. September 2, 2014.

1. Lavars, Nick (4 September 2014). ["Flirtey delivery drone startup spreads its wings"](https://newatlas.com/australian-drone-startup-flirtey-wings-overseas/33656/). New Atlas.

1. ["Written evidence - Flirtey"](http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/eu-sub-committee-b-internal-market-infrastructure-and-employment/civil-use-of-remotely-piloted-aircraft-systems-rpas/written/17472.html). *data.parliament.uk*

1. ["Hardware Demo Day"](https://techcrunch.com/2015/08/18/hardware-demo-day/). Tech Crunch. August 18, 2015.

1. Townsend, Tess (Summer 2015). ["5 of the Most Interesting Startups From Y Combinator Demo Day"](https://www.inc.com/tess-townsend/5-interesting-y-combinator-2015-summer.html). *Inc.com*. Inc.

1. ["2018 Disruptor 50: No. 29 Flirtey"](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/22/flirtey-2018-disruptor-50.html). CNBC. 22 May 2018.

## External links

["This Pioneering Entrepreneur Shares Why You Should Study Philosophy Rather Than Business"](https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/318252). 9 August 2018.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Matt Sweeny](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Sweeny) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Sweeny?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.