This article originally appeared in the May/June issue of Startups Magazine. Click here to subscribe

During this time, Greil mainly worked on satellite structures for research satellites for the European Space Agency. At this time, Greil worked on the Cassini-Huygens mission to send a space probe to study Saturn. “There is a part of what I designed laying on the moon of Titan of Saturn,” he mentioned.

After his work in the aerospace industry, Greil moved over to the automotive industry. Having done his Master's thesis on electric cars, he joined Porsche, and later in his career, worked at BMW and Great Wall Motor.

Greil then left the automotive industry in 2018 and founded FlyNow Aviation.

Greil explained: “I realised there were already about 150 companies worldwide working on what you’d call ‘man-carrying drones.’ What I’d realised is that all of these companies were repeating the same mistakes as the automotive industry with electric cars, which is they are only concentrating on a premium market.

“A premium market means that you’re excluding at least 90% of the population, because they’re not able to afford an electric car, or a flight with one of these man-carrying drones.

“That’s a huge problem right now, and you can see how they are struggling because they don’t have a solution of how they can meet required carbon emissions for their fleets and sell cars for a price which is suitable for the public. This same mistake is repeated in the area of 3D mobility.

“We founded FlyNow Aviation because we wanted to make 3D mobility available and affordable for everyone, in a social, economic, and ecologically sustainable way.”

With streets getting busier as more cars hit the road, the 3D mobility space is becoming an increasingly explored field. With accessible options to the masses, the future of flying cars and private e-copters is becoming more likely.

How does FlyNow aviation differentiate itself from the competition?

One of the main factors that sets FlyNow Aviation apart in the 3D mobility scape is that rather than being a man-carrying drone, it derives from the principles of a helicopter.

“We consider helicopters as tools, and they have proved in the last decades that they are versatile aircrafts for an extremely wide range of different missions. And we aren’t deriving it [the product] from small drone toys, we are downscaling tools.

“Our concept looks very different to most of our competitors, being a co-axial helicopter with an electric drive train and using a tilting head mechanism to control the six degrees of freedom, so that's from a concept point of view.

“Since it’s a helicopter, we can rely on existing regulations. This is also something which differentiates us from our competitors. We rely on the CS-27 or CS-VLR, which is the European regulation for helicopters. CS-27 for helicopters up to 3.5 times maximum take-off weight, CS VLR for very light rotorcraft to the maximum take-off weight of 600 kilograms. Since our aircrafts have a maximum take-off weight of less than 600 kilograms we mainly rely on CS-VLR. That's a big advantage. So, for certification and following these rules, you're mitigating the technical risks, as well as the financial risks. The timeline is also better than if you have to rely on new regulations.”

Sustainability

Sustainability is a core principle in FlyNow’s mission.

Greil explained: “Sustainability consists of three branches. Everybody mainly thinks about the ecologic part of sustainability, which of course plays a very important role, but if you want to be ecologically sustainable, you also have to be economically and socially sustainable.”

Being socially sustainable means that FlyNow are keeping prices low, to ensure the broad public can use its copters. If only a small number of people are able to afford it, how can ‘sustainable’ solutions ever make a measurable difference?

Road-based transport requires a lot of infrastructure and materials, and when flying, the air is your road. The infrastructure required for air-based travel is take-off and landing points, which according to Greil, take up a very small fraction of the infrastructure of ground-based transport, making this a more ecologically sustainable method. Not only that, but on average, eight out of 10 cars on the road include only one person, and travel for 40 kilometres a day, but remain on the road for extended periods of time due to traffic. Moving to air-based transport cuts travel time and congestion.

The challenges

“There are endless challenges every day, but of course, the biggest challenge we tried to identify and address from the very beginning, which is the most important, was certification.

“Before I even started the company, I was talking to the Austrian Aviation Authority. We showed them the concept and asked what they thought about it, and if they would be willing to help us with certification, which they did. Only after we were given the thumbs up, we founded the company.”

A sentiment we hear often is that funding is one of the most challenging obstacles that startups face. “We spent our own private money and we also got support from the Austrian Government, which did a pre-seed and seed investment.

“We also have investors in different stages so finding investors who understand the potential and are willing to commit to a long-term investment is a priority. It’s not about finding someone with money, it is about finding the right investors with the right mindset. That's a big challenge.”

Flying high

At this stage in the journey, FlyNow has forged and strengthened its position in the market. Greil commented: “I think we now have a good reputation in the areas concerning aviation authorities, but also potential operators that realise what we are capable of, and what our aircrafts are capable of, and their diverse applications.”

This position and awareness of the startup are strengthened by its public appearances. “We have been exhibiting for the last couple of months in different big fairs like IAA Mobility in Munich, and at COP-28. The feedback was very positive. We were chosen as one of the most innovative companies at COP-28.”

As FlyNow Aviation is becoming more recognised in the sector, the advantages of 3D mobility in urban areas are being recognised, and the idea of e-copters for goods and people travel is becoming a reality rather than a far-off dream.

What's in store for FlyNow aviation?

The startup is currently finishing its prototype phase, where it is consistently making improvements and new iterations.

Greil mentioned: “In Autumn last year, we started the serious development process. Everything we learned from our prototypes we are now incorporating, and rethinking every component and trying to get specifications now for starting the development.”

With advancement on the way, it won’t be too long before we start seeing FlyNow’s e-copters being flown across the skies.