Participated · Series A · May 2020

Xwing is developing a technology stack to convert aircraft such as the Cessna Grand Caravan 208B to fly autonomously by integrating lidar, radar, cameras and retrofitted servomotors. The company says it has solved core perception, planning and control problems and already conducts data collection and training from real flights. Xwing has performed close to 200 missions of its AutoFlight system, with a safety pilot onboard and a ground control operator relaying communications to air traffic control. It is also operating manned commercial cargo flights under a contract with a large logistics company and uses that flight time to feed training algorithms. Xwing holds an FAA experimental airworthiness certificate expanded to include a special flight permit for optionally piloted aircraft and plans to run short regional autonomous cargo flights with a safety pilot under an experimental ticket/exemption within the next 12 months, later removing the pilot once full redundancies and certification are achieved. Financially, the company said it will significantly scale its workforce (including tripling its engineering team) and commercial operations after raising new capital. Xwing develops a software stack focused on sensing, reasoning and control to enable pilotless flights and is designed to be integrated into existing aerospace systems. The company is aircraft-agnostic and pursues a retrofit approach to speed deployment, reduce cost, and ease regulatory approval. Xwing is using recent capital to hire talent and scale development of its software platform; notable hires include Terrafugia co-founder and COO Anna Dietrich and Ed Lim, a veteran of Lockheed Martin and Uber’s autonomous efforts. The startup has been working with the FAA on flight certification for pilotless aircraft and aims for commercial operations later this year, pending approvals. Xwing is San Francisco–based and is also participating in Bell’s work for NASA’s UAS in the NAS program, which plans demonstration flights this summer. Since its prior $4 million round in summer 2018, the company has continued technology development and regulatory engagement. Xwing is building the software stack to enable pilotless flight for small passenger aircraft, focusing on sensing, reasoning and control. Its core products include sensor-integration perception software and an Autonomy Flight Management System (AFMS) that integrates with air traffic control, generates flight paths, monitors system health and handles contingencies. The system is aircraft-agnostic; Xwing tested on a subscale fixed-wing aircraft and more recently on a helicopter, and is developing for rotorcraft, general aviation fixed-wing and eVTOL aircraft. The company employs about a dozen people, including engineers with experience in optionally piloted vehicles, DARPA Gremlins, the AgustaWestland SW4 Solo autonomous helicopter, Rockwill Collins, the Naval Research Lab, Google, and McKinsey. The two-year-old company announced a $4 million seed round led by Eniac Ventures with participation from Array Ventures, Stripe founders John and Patrick Collison, and Nat Friedman. Xwing plans to use the funding to scale operations, continue hiring aerospace and software talent, and is in discussions with larger companies to integrate its system into aircraft.