Reliable Robotics lands $115M funding

The Mountain View, California-based startup raised $115 million in an extension of its Series D round, pushing its valuation beyond $1 billion.

Funding breakdown and total raised

The round includes $90 million in equity led by Nimble Partners and $25 million in debt from Silicon Valley Bank. Reliable has raised $380 million to date.

SpaceX veterans lead the company

Co-founder and CEO Robert Rose was a former director of flight software at SpaceX and also worked at Tesla and Google. Co-founder and CTO Juerg Frefel spent nearly a decade at SpaceX as an engineer.

First product: continuous autopilot

Reliable's first product handles engine startup, taxiing, takeoff and landing while the pilot remains in the aircraft using a touchscreen. Rose expects certification in eighteen to twenty four months.

Ground-based pilot station coming later

The second certification removes the pilot from the cockpit and moves them to a ground-control station. Rose says this certification is at least three years away.

In-house collision-avoidance radar

Reliable developed a solid-state radar with no moving parts that scans at longer range and higher resolution than conventional systems. Rose expects certification by the end of twenty twenty seven.

“This is of great interest to operators these days, given the collisions that we've had recently in commercial aviation.”

Reliable Airlines: the test case

Reliable Airlines, based in Albuquerque, operates six Cessna Caravans flying cargo six days a week. It will be the first airline certified to use autonomous flying technology.

Investor sees industry-wide transformation

Nimble Partners founder John Burbank said Reliable is building a system any airframe can adopt. He compared it to autonomous vehicles becoming the path for the auto industry.

“It's a much bigger effort and much bigger opportunity than to just build one plane.”