Haast Autonomous pairs a custom VTOL aircraft with back-end software that handles dispatch, routing, telemetry, and chain-of-custody tracking for sensitive medical cargo. The current aircraft is designed for journeys of roughly 50–62 miles with a minimum payload capacity of 5 lb and a built-in cargo compartment that controls temperature, pressure, vibration and tilt. The team produced 13 aircraft iterations in 16 weeks using 3D printing, keeping prototype costs below $1,000, and plans future versions with higher payload capacity. Founders Ege Halac, Jason Chen and Santiago Brent developed the venture at Rice University with support from the Liu Idea Lab and Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen and have recruited additional engineering students to build and test the system. Haast has engaged hundreds of potential customers, secured letters of intent, received multiple university innovation awards, and partnered with Airspace Link while participating in the Oregon UAS Accelerator. The company plans to deploy a coordinated fleet managed by its software platform and intends to run pilot trials in early 2027 before moving to market later that year.

Total raised

$2M

Funding rounds

1

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Jun 2026