Exosonic, the startup developing supersonic commercial air travel and drone technology, owned by engineer Norris Tai, has announced that it is closing its doors after five years of operation, due to its inability to find the necessary support to continue the project.
The company announced this news on its website, where it said: “While the founders and team continue to believe in the need/desire for quiet supersonic flight and supersonic drones for the US Department of Defense, without further customer support for either concept, the company will not be able to meet the cash needs to advance further development.”
Exosonic was founded in 2019, joined the 2020 winter Y Combinator cohort and has gone on to raise over $4.5 million from venture capitalists, including Soma Capital, Psion Capital, and Stellar Solutions. The startup has also received several small grants from the US Air Force under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
The company appears to have failed to bridge the gap often referred to in defense technology as the “valley of death” — the period between R&D and commercialization. As Exosonic said on LinkedIn , “Without further government support for hypersonic UAV development in the near term, Exosonic can no longer sustain the capital required to further develop the concept.”