VP – Business Development

Skyryse lands one other $300M to make flying, even helicopters, easy and protected. Skyryse, an El Segundo, California-based aviation automation startup, has raised more than $300 million in a Series C investment, pushing its valuation to $1.15 billion and into unicorn territory. The round, which was announced Tuesday and led by Autopilot Ventures, provided a multi-million-dollar accelerant for the startup as it nears the end of a lengthy Federal Aviation Administration certification process for its flight control system. The capital will also be used to integrate its operating system, known as SkyOS, across numerous aircraft, including U.S. military Black Hawk helicopters. Other investors in this round include Fidelity Management & Research Company, ArrowMark Partners, Atreides Management LP, BAM Elevate, Baron Capital Group, Durable Capital Partners, Positive Sum, Qatar Investment Authority, RCM Private Markets Fund managed by Rokos Capital Management, and Woodline Partners. The startup, which was founded in 2016, has raised more than $605 million in equity capital. Skyryse has made inroads with investors as well as the U.S. military, emergency medical service operators, law enforcement, and private operators for its simplified flight system. The startup has stripped out dozens of mechanical flight controls like gauges and switches and replaced them with a system containing several flight computers that automate the more complicated and dangerous aspects of flying. This is not a fully autonomous system; a pilot must still handle the operations. But it's designed to automate the trickiest aspects of flying, enhance the skills of pilots, and improve safety. That simplicity and ease of operation - a literal swipe of the finger on a touchscreen - has won over companies like United Rotorcraft, Air Methods, and Mitsubishi Corporation, which have contracts with Skyryse to integrate SkyOS on a variety of helicopters and airplanes. Skyryse started building and testing its system on helicopters, one of the most unstable aircraft to operate. But the idea is that SkyOS can be be applied to any aircraft. That initial operating system, known as Skyryse One, automates takeoff and landing and fully automates hover and engine-out emergency landings. The company has since integrated the operating system on Black Hawk helicopters. Skyryse has made progress on its certification process with the Federal Aviation Administration. Last year, the FAA granted final design approval for the company's SkyOS flight control computers. Skyryse must now complete formal flight testing and verification to achieve full certification.

Skyryse secures $300M+ in Series C funding to advance SkyOS and make aviation safer and simpler. 03/02/2026 El Segundo, California-based aviation automation startup Skyryse announced it has raised more than $300 million in a Series C funding round, propelling the company into unicorn status with a valuation of $1.15 billion. This latest infusion brings Skyryse's total equity funding to over $605 million and provides critical capital as the company approaches key regulatory milestones. The round was led by Autopilot Ventures, with significant participation from returning investor Fidelity Management & Research Company and new and existing backers including ArrowMark Partners, Atreides Management LP, BAM Elevate, Baron Capital Group, Durable Capital Partners, Positive Sum, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), RCM Private Markets Fund managed by Rokos Capital Management, and Woodline Partners, among others. Skyryse is developing SkyOS(TM), described as the world's first universal operating system for flight. The proprietary software aims to simplify aircraft controls, enhance safety through advanced automation, and reduce pilot workload - making flying more accessible and less prone to human error. The technology is designed to work across various aircraft types, including airplanes and helicopters, by replacing complex traditional controls with intuitive, tablet-like interfaces and automated safeguards. A major focus of the new funding is to complete the lengthy Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification process for SkyOS and accelerate its integration and deployment across additional platforms. Skyryse has already demonstrated progress in this area, including partnerships such as its collaboration with Robinson Helicopter Company to equip the popular R66 model and recent autonomous flight tests on U.S. military Black Hawk helicopters. The company has also conducted historic first flights with fully autonomous capabilities on certain rotorcraft. CEO Mark Groden and the team emphasize that SkyOS is not about fully replacing pilots but rather augmenting them - providing redundancy, stability, and simplified operations to prevent accidents caused by factors like spatial disorientation, loss of control, or overload in high-stress scenarios. By standardizing flight controls and adding layers of automation, Skyryse envisions broader applications, from personal and commercial helicopter transport to urban air mobility and even military operations. The announcement highlights growing investor confidence in aviation automation amid the push toward advanced air mobility (AAM) and safer rotorcraft. Skyryse's approach aligns with industry trends toward simplified vehicle operations (SVO) and has been recognized in the U.S. Department of Transportation's Advanced Air Mobility National Strategy. With this substantial new capital, Skyryse plans to scale production, expand its engineering and certification efforts, and broaden SkyOS adoption. As the company nears FAA approval and commercial rollout, it positions itself as a leader in transforming how people fly - making helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft safer, more intuitive, and potentially more accessible to a wider range of operators. The funding comes at a pivotal time for the aviation tech sector, where automation is seen as key to reducing accident rates and enabling new forms of air travel. Skyryse's milestone underscores strong backing for its vision of a future where flying is as straightforward and reliable as driving a modern car. For more details, visit skyryse.com. No comments found Azamat Abdoullaev. Tech expert. Azamat Abdoullaev is a leading ontologist and theoretical physicist who introduced a universal world model as a standard ontology/semantics for human beings and computing machines. He holds a Ph.D. in...

Skyryse achieves historic first flight of Black Hawk with SkyOS. Skyryse completes an automated pickup, automated hover and automated setdown with the swipe of a finger, Marking An Unprecedented 91-Day Integration Skyryse, a leader in aviation automation and simplified flight controls, today announced the successful first flight of a Black Hawk helicopter equipped with SkyOS(TM), the world's first operating system for flight. While in flight, Skyryse also executed precision flight maneuvers using SkyOS' single control stick, and witnessed SkyOS' maturity on its very first flight, on a new platform. The first flight comes just 91 days after installation of SkyOS began, an accelerated integration timeline built on the company's decade-plus experience in engineering, testing, and regulatory collaboration, including with the FAA, across multiple aircraft platforms. By successfully integrating and flying its technology on one of the world's most versatile aircraft, Skyryse has successfully proven that SkyOS is aircraft-agnostic. "Today, SkyOS demonstrated its maturity and precision on a military-grade aircraft," said Mark Groden, Founder and CEO of Skyryse. "The Black Hawk is one of the most proven, versatile aircraft in history, and while it's still the same airframe that many operators know and trust, Black Hawk with SkyOS is fundamentally different aircraft in its capabilities, flexibility and safety. Watching this battle-proven aircraft auto-pickup with the single swipe of a finger, execute a perfect automated hover, effortlessly conduct flight maneuvers with a single control stick, and complete an automated setdown was incredible." Making History with the Swipe of a Finger Historically, industry timelines for technology integration to flight testing take months, years and in some cases, decades. With a vertically integrated structure that allows Skyryse to develop, build, test, and fly in-house, the company was able to exceed expectations and its own ambitions. Skyryse Test Pilot Eric Stierna, who has flown conventional UH-60 Black Hawks over the course of his career, was the first pilot to fly the Black Hawk with SkyOS installed. "Flying with SkyOS is truly a game changer," he said. "I swiped my finger and climbed into a completely stable hover. I swiped again and descended into a perfect setdown. When we flew using SkyOS' single control stick, we knew we were experiencing something completely new, an industry first. Bringing SkyOS to the Black Hawk feels like giving back to the community that shaped my development." The primary objective of its first Black Hawk flight was to confirm the integrated performance of SkyOS in real-world conditions, including handling qualities and verifying that all flight-critical functions behave exactly as predicted from ground and simulation testing. Skyryse attributes the rapid integration and successful first flight to its unique testing philosophy. To date, Skyryse has completed 10,000+ simulated flight hours including purposefully injected anomalies for added stress testing, as well as 2,800+ crewed flight hours with SkyOS. Successfully executing an automated pickup, stable hover, precision flight manuevers with a single control stick, and an automated setdown in a Black Hawk adds to a list of industry-first's from the company, including the first-ever automated takeoff, hover and landing at the swipe of a finger, as well as the world's first automated engine-out landing (autorotation), which is both a complex, and critical emergency maneuver. SkyOS Transforms Legacy Aircraft with Next-Generation Capability When Skyryse received its first Black Hawk this summer, it featured a traditional architecture - complicated, mechanical linkages and analog systems, requiring high pilot workload at all times. In 91 days, Skyryse replaced legacy OEM with SkyOS, an intelligent, integrated system that gives pilots greater control by simplifying the management of any aircraft during standard flight operations, inclement weather, and emergencies. With a human-machine interface, SkyOS creates a synergistic partnership between human skill and intelligent automation, setting a new standard for safe aviation operations. Black Hawk with SkyOS is a fully optionally-piloted aircraft that's easier, safer, and more intuitive to fly, with features including: * Simplified flight controls, including a streamlined, intuitive interface that reduces pilot workload * Dramatically improved visibility through a streamlined cockpit, increasing safety and mission effectiveness * Inherent stability and real-time safety alerts, continuously monitoring terrain, obstacles, and surrounding aircraft * Safe envelope protection and enhanced performance in limited visibility * Reduced weight and added capability, a rare and critical advantage for payload-sensitive missions like military operations, medical evacuation, and aerial firefighting Whether the mission calls for a flight that is dual-piloted, single-piloted, uncrewed or remote-piloted from a ground station, Black Hawk with SkyOS is capable of adapting across all mission profiles. This flexibility offers a powerful force multiplier for military, emergency response, air medical, and firefighting operators - delivering unprecedented, next-generation performance for critical missions. "SkyOS doesn't promise capability someday. It delivers it now," said Groden. Founded in 2016, Skyryse first created a prototype of its SkyOS system within its first year, deploying on a Robinson R44 helicopter that was used by the FBI, law enforcement and first responders in Tracy, CA. Skyryse has since deployed SkyOS on Skyryse One, a turbine-powered Robinson R66, which is now in testing with the FAA, in addition to the Black Hawk and a Cirrus SR-22, marking the first SkyOS installation on an airplane. The company has also announced contracts to integrate SkyOS into Pilatus PC-12s, Bell 407s, Airbus H-125 and H-130 helicopters as part of its partnerships with United Rotorcraft, Air Methods and Mitsubishi Corporation. While SkyOS features an aircraft-agnostic design, Skyryse intentionally began building and testing SkyOS on helicopters because they are both inherently unstable and more complicated for pilots and automated systems to fly than airplanes. For this reason, its technological progress on helicopters like the R44, the R66, and now the Black Hawk, gives Skyryse an unparalleled advantage in scaling its automation solution across the aviation industry. "We're bringing automation to every existing aircraft, including the Black Hawk, in a way that offers unmatched reliability and flexibility," said Groden. "Today we've proven that SkyOS gives one of the most trusted aircraft ever built, a new life. Black Hawk with SkyOS is the future of vertical lift - safer, simpler, and ready for the missions that matter most." Ultimately, accomplishing successful integration and first flight testing of the Black Hawk with SkyOS affirms what Skyryse has long believed - SkyOS can be installed and flown on virtually any aircraft in under 100 days.