You likely have never heard of electric seagliders. But they might end up becoming the future of short distance travel.
What’s happening:
- Rhode Island based startup Regent Craft has raised a $60M Series A round to advance the manufacturing of their all electric seagliders
- The round was led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and included other notable backers such as Point72 Ventures, Lockheed Martin, Mark Cuban and others
Why it matters:
- Regent has built a first of its kind seaglider that operates entirely off of electricity and produces zero emissions
The big idea:
- The mission of Regent is to build a high speed vehicle that is battery powered and yet still delivers on the exact same safety specifications as modern aircraft and watercraft
- Because their seagliders operate just a few metres above the surface of the water, Regent believes they can be as fast as a plane but as cheap to operate as a small boat
Going deeper:
- The founding team of Regent is led by ex Boeing engineers and talent who previously worked at Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic
By the numbers:
- One of Regent’s electric seagliders is capable of carrying 12 passengers and traveling up to 160 nautical miles
- Regent has already sold 497 of their seagliders
- They have publicly stated that they have $7.9B in order backlogs from aviation and ferry companies
