BluJ Aero Bags Funding To Create Sustainable Freight Aircraft

Aerospace startup BluJ Aero has bagged more than $2 Mn in a seed funding round led by  Endiya Partners and Ideaspring Capital, with participation from Rainmatter Foundation. 

The startup is going to use the funding for developing a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft powered by hydrogen fuel cell technology.

According to an Economic Times report, this is the startup’s first equity funding for developing its first commercial product. It aims to create a fully autonomous cargo e-VTOL aircraft, with a payload of over 100 kg, and long-range capability. 

Founded in 2022 by Maruthi Amardeep Sri Vatsavaya, BluJ also aims to hire more people, build its facilities and establish a testing infrastructure to move soon towards approval.

So far the startup has a team of nine members who hail from Boeing, GE, ISRO, Siemens, and Collins Aerospace and plans to have 20 people on board by the end of 2023.

Dinesh Pai, from Rainmatter Foundation said, “Freight transport by road is a significant contributor to carbon emissions. BluJ has taken an interesting route to solving the problem, by working on hydrogen-powered electric aircraft.”

BluJ plans to deploy its aircrafts for use-cases such as defence or on offshore oil rigs where currently helicopters are used to carry goods. 

The Indian aerospace industry has been witnessing an interesting phase with fresh experiments from entrepreneurs.

Last month, the ePlane Company, an air mobility startup received design organisation approval (DOA) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). With this the startup has become the first to receive such approval.

Futuristic moves like these have benefitted the industry to attract investments at a better rate than before. Recently, spacetech startup Digantara raised $10 Mn in its Series A1 funding round.