Lachy Groom backs Indian startup aiming to keep aircraft aloft for a year | TechCrunch

Indian startup Alteon has received a pre-seed funding of $2.5 million led by former solo investor Lachy Groom. Founded by 20-year-old Samay Sanghvi, the company aims to develop fixed-wing aircraft using dynamic soaring technology to extract energy from ocean wind shear to sustain flight for more than a year. Alteon plans to initially manufacture aircraft with a wing span of about 3 meters, extracting energy by crossing different air flow layers and converting propellers into turbines to charge batteries. Although it has not yet been fully proven that flight can be sustained solely by wind power, the company has completed autonomous flight tests in the Bay of Bengal, successfully completing seven ‘O’ loops at a speed of over 62 miles per hour at a height of 1 meter above the water surface. Silicon Valley aerospace engineer Gabriel Bousquet considers this a promising initial result, but also points out that reliable energy extraction and handling of waves and turbulence remain challenges in real-world conditions.