Lachy Groom backs Indian startup aiming to keep aircraft aloft for a year
Bengaluru-based startup Alteon has raised $2.5 million to develop autonomous aircraft capable of staying airborne for over a year using wind energy. The technology mimics the dynamic soaring techniques of albatrosses to harvest energy from ocean wind shear.
Why it matters
This innovation could revolutionize long-term maritime surveillance and environmental monitoring by removing the need for traditional fuel or battery limitations.
Prominent solo investor Lachy Groom has backed a Bengaluru startup attempting an ambitious feat: keeping an aircraft in the sky for more than a year by harvesting energy from ocean winds.
Alteon , founded by 20-year-old Samay Sanghvi, announced Tuesday that it raised $2.5 million in a pre-seed round led by Groom, with participation from Together Fund, to develop autonomous aircraft inspired by dynamic soaring, a technique albatrosses use to extract energy from the wind. Groom decided he wanted to invest within the first 30 minutes of their first meeting, Sanghvi told TechCrunch.
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