On a cool November morning last year, 800 people gathered before the sunrise in South Burlington Hangar to witness Virgin Flying Beta Technologies’ first electric aircraft was built on its new scale production line.
Kyle Clark, the mysterious founder and CEO of Beta, flew the Alia CX300, one of the startup’s two aircraft models on a flight that lasted over an hour. When he climbed the clear sky with a “very quiet electric plane”, he said he was grateful.
“There isn’t a single thing in that plane, we didn’t design, build, assemble, test,” Clark told TechCrunch. “I had to sit in a chair in the sky, heading west alone in a system that I didn’t even think of a few years ago.” Flying, that’s a very special thing.”
For Clark, a successful launch is crucial in part because he can deliver on his promise to the company’s board. Clark has a simple rule on beta: keep your promise.
“We set a Nov. 13 goal and flew the plane on the morning of Nov. 13,” Clark told TechCrunch. “Staying this promise means a lot to our board because we have the next commitment and they will trust us To keep it.”
Clark is an anomaly in the emerging electrical aviation industry – first of all his decision to live in Silicon Valley, where his headquarters is in Vermont, rather than Silicon Valley rivals. His unconventional aesthetics permeated the companies he founded, including designing two electric aircraft and a preferred market strategy that includes the charging business for electric vehicle aircraft.
The former professional hockey player and pilot coach educated by Harvard also rejected venture capital.
“My whole career… has been in power electronic control,” Clark said. “Every day, I fly two or three different planes. I teach my daughter to fly before knowing how to drive. Beta’s culture here and business types are very different from all these West Coast people who are already on the moving trains.”
Although flying under radar is more than competitors Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation, the startup continues to increase hours in flight, as well as customer orders with financial support.
Beta’s three-tier plan
Beta’s listing strategy is different from its competitors. Archer and Joby are producing vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (called EVTOLS) to sell to customers and operate in the air taxi network. Archer also works with Anduril to comply with the record plan at the Department of Defense.
Beta wants to be the OEM in the equation; its focus is on building a traditional electric aircraft called the Alia CX300 Ectol, which flew in November and is also the EVTOL known as the Alia A250 Evtol. The aircraft is the same in all respects except propulsion and propeller, which Beta believes will help save production costs and simplify certification.
Clark said building two types of aircraft also allows Beta to leverage a wider customer base. Estrogen is very suitable for regional flights, while EVTOL is more suitable for urban environments. Using omeol to market also gives β a way to commercialize it in the near future. The company hopes its Alia CX300 will be the first ECTOL certifications this year, or by 2026. Clark believes that the A250’s FAA certification will be 12 to 18 months after that.
However, despite their competition in the sky, Beta’s electric avionics charging network is Beta’s electric avionics charging network, but Archer is currently a customer, which is an even closer path to revenue. The startup has 46 charging stations online in 22 states and New Zealand today, with another 23 developments and plans to gain up to 150 operations in 2025.
Beta’s electricity plan
Beta plans to start operations in 2025 as Air New Zealand, one of its earliest customers. The airline has promised to offer four CX300s, with the option to purchase 20 more CX300s and will use them to deliver mail for NZ Post. Beta also sees United Therapeutics, UPS and the U.S. Air Force as customers of various use cases, including medical, logistics and military, which have recently received Passenger plane From Blade and Helijet.
But the game was very intense. Archers’ new focus is defense, startups this month have proposed Another $300 million Among the funds, $430 million It takes place in December. This brings Archer’s total funding to $3.36 billion. Joby locked in strategic supporters like Delta and Uber, raising another last year $500 million from Toyota,add $222 million more From underwriters, their total funds reached $2.82 billion. Archer and Joby both had early funding rounds from VCs.
Beta has been Institutional Investorsbut Clark said the startup’s “basic efficiency” has the biggest impact.
In February, Beta’s pilots reached a critical milestone when flying the CX300 on the first airport-to-airport mission between four regional airports in New York, stopping charging Beta in infrastructure.
Beta also conducted multiple pilot hover and transition tests using its EVTOL model, the Alia A250. The archer only flew evtol remotely. Joby began testing in October 2023.
“We are a relatively private company, quietly stuffed in Vermont than anyone in this industry, going further metaphorically and physically, no matter who is in this industry, i.e., airplanes, toward airplanes Airplanes and construction aircraft, Clark said, is an industrial complex that produces these things.
“We now have a fully online production facility. No one else has it.”
From NHL to Power Electronics
Clark’s “The Whole World” [has been] Reliable power system architecture.
Clark is also a pilot and flight instructor who built and flew “at least 20 planes.” His LinkedIn showed his earliest jobs, such as working as a bodyguard at a Boston Bar, “wrestling drunk stairs after the Red Sox match.”
Oh, after studying materials science at Harvard, Clark briefly played hockey for the NHL.
That said, Clark is both a nerd and Jock, who promises himself with the humility of a blue-collar engineer.
We last spoke at Clark to show the first CX300 to Air New Zealand, despite one, he wore a worn black hoodie, jeans and a camouflage baseball cap with Bright orange letters. When prompted, he proudly showed me the tattoo on his son’s arm designed by him, and the two used the robotic arms they built for entertainment to apply their ink.
Perhaps it was this tinkering mindset that made Clark design the power system architecture on a Beta plane different from his competitors.
Archer and Joby separate batteries near the motor powered by the propeller near the motor – Archer has 12 propellers and Joby has 6. The idea is to distribute power so that if a part of the battery pack or propulsion system fails, the aircraft can continue to fly.
Instead, put all five batteries in a pack under the seat. The “Single Loop Bus” provides electrical connections, and each motor has access to each battery. If a strange failure occurs, it will be isolated from the sides of the failure, Clark said.
“A reliable power system is not a fully distributed system, because any failure replacement that occurs eliminates the utilization of energy stored elsewhere,” he said.
Clark said it is important for leaders in building safety-critical power systems to have technical experience. He said design and flying aircraft are not like construction and testing software.
“You don’t get the shot twice and say, ‘I’ll shake it until it breaks and retreats a little bit.’ “You bury the plane on the side of the mountain and you’re done.” ”
Beta’s funding strategy
The $1.15 billion raised beta comes from institutional investors such as Fidelity and Qatar Investment Authority. The startup has not accepted any venture capital yet, Clark firmly noted.
“We skipped venture capital because we had a client left the door and it was a unified therapeutic agent,” Clark said.
Clark said his refusal to VC came from the “regret assisted game theory” taught by Manchester United CEO Martine Rothblatt.
“A quick time is defining what you don’t want to happen,” he said. “What do you regret the last time? Then, you set your priorities to rule out this.”
Clark’s biggest regret is letting his business run out of money, following closely behind because he fears losing the ship, which could prevent beta from achieving its mission.
“Equity dilution and equity control are two very different things,” he said. “Someone can get a fair return on their securities without controlling the business.”
Clark said that each aircraft was built in cash neutral, as the Beta only accepts financial support orders paid for parts and labor. Although Clark said he expects net profitability to be “over 12 months.”
Investors’ funds have largely been towards building manufacturing facilities and proof of aircraft, Clark said, demonstrating respect for investor capital, as investors want to see their money grow rather than operate.
That’s why Beta puts investors into its $170 million custom factory, Clark said.
“The only way we build aircraft that will be profitable in unit economics and at a long time is to design a system that makes products. yes This product. “It’s not as sexy or fun as flying a beautiful quiet plane, but it’s almost more important. ”
