Xwing Raises $10M Series A to Accelerate Development of Autonomous Technology for Pilotless Planes

Xwing, a company pioneering autonomy for aviation, today announced it has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by R7 Partners, with participation from Thales, Alven, and Eniac Ventures. The investment will be used to expand Xwing’s team of experienced aerospace and autonomous software engineers, and to scale the development of its software stack that tackles the remaining challenges of autonomous flight.

Working with the latest aerospace manufacturing technologies and in tandem with the FAA to receive flight certification for pilotless aircraft, Xwing is preparing to scale its efforts to create a market-ready solution for safe and secure pilotless flights.

Same Aircraft, Radically Improved Safety & Efficiency

Autonomous technologies have the potential to improve air traffic management, open up the skies to novel air transportation services, and further improve aircraft safety. Unique to Xwing’s platform is its ability to have the aircraft perceive surroundings and detect ground-based and airborne hazards while determining the aircraft’s position and flight path. 

Furthermore, its software suite will enable pilotless flights by seamlessly integrating and building on top of existing matured systems. By retrofitting existing aircraft, Xwing can quickly deploy to market safer and more cost-effective operations without disrupting established regulatory systems. 

“With the support we’ve received from our investors and through partnerships with leaders in the space, we’re determined to significantly accelerate the pace of deployment of cost-effective unmanned and autonomous technologies, which will transform the regional transportation market,” said Marc Piette, CEO, and founder of Xwing. 

Alongside the company’s new funding, Xwing has hired several key executives, bringing together the world’s foremost experts in aeronautics and autonomy. Anna Dietrich, former co-founder and COO of Terrafugia and expert on the future of urban air mobility, joined the team to lead the company’s regulatory efforts, including the company’s continued relationship with the FAA. Ed Lim, a Lockheed Martin and Aurora Flight Sciences veteran, joins the team as Guidance, Navigation, and Control Lead to spearhead the development of flight control and the positioning system, having led guidance navigation and control for Uber’s autonomous car division and Zipline’s autonomous delivery drone flight control system.

“We invested in Xwing because we believe they have the right team, technology and plan to create a truly unprecedented approach to autonomous flight,” said Rich Padula, Partner at R7. “Already working with industry leaders including Bell for NASA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS in the NAS) program, Xwing is uniquely positioned to be the clear market leader in the future of air transportation"

Xwing was founded by Marc Piette, a former software engineer, two-time entrepreneur, and pilot, who sold his last company to GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY) at the age of 35. Piette has more than 15 years of experience building and scaling software teams within computer security, data science, and machine learning sectors. The company’s CTO Maxime Gariel, a pilot and engineer at Rockwell Collins Controls Group, brings over a decade of aviation and autonomy experience and previously worked on autonomous aircraft projects, including leading flight controls for the AgustaWestland SW4 Solo autonomous helicopter and DARPA Gremlins. 

If you’re interested in joining the team or partnering with Xwing, please visit www.xwing.com. 

About Xwing:

Xwing is pioneering autonomous software integration for aviation. Its software stack seamlessly integrates with existing aircraft to enable pilotless flight. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. To learn more, please visit xwing.com. 

Contact Information

Kayla Abbassi

Senior Account Manager at VSC

VSC for Xwing

kaylaa@vsc.co