Exosonic, a startup developing supersonic commercial air travel and UAV technology, is ending its five-year run.
In an update posted on its website, Exosonic said it was unable to find the traction needed to continue its business.
“The founders and team still believe in the need and desire for quiet supersonic flight and supersonic drones for the U.S. Department of Defense, but without further customer support for either concept, the company will “We will not be able to sustain the funding needed to make the progress we need to make,” the update said. Say.
Exosonic was founded in 2019 by Norris Tie, a propulsion engineer who has worked at leading companies such as Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. The latter company reportedly worked on the development of the low-boom X-59 aircraft for NASA. Exosonic joins Y Combinator's Winter 2020 cohort and has raised over $4.5 million from venture investors including Soma Capital, Psion Capital, and Stellar Solutions. The startup also secured several small grants from the U.S. Air Force under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
The company was making progress. The company reached a major milestone earlier this year when it flew its first subscale supersonic drone, called the EX-3M Trident, on a test flight in California. Two other vehicles are in development: a supersonic airliner called Horizon and a large unmanned aerial vehicle called Revenant.
Ultimately, the company appears unable to bridge the gap between research and development and commercialization, often referred to as the “valley of death” in defense technology. This is a well-known problem for vendors looking to sell to the Department of Defense, and venture capitalists say they may step in if they don't. As Exosonic stated on LinkedIn, “Without further government support for near-term supersonic UAV development, Exosonic will not be able to sustain the capital needed to further advance the concept.”
TechCrunch has reached out to Tie for comment and will update this article if we hear back.