Mayman Aerospace announces $3 million investment from the UAE's Strategic Development Fund
Strategic Development Fund, the investment arm of the UAE's Tawazun Council, is investing $3 million through its venture capital program in Mayman Aerospace (a JetPack Aviation Corp. brand), the US-based manufacturer of the innovative dual-use Speeder Air Utility Vehicle (AUV).
As part of SDF's strategy to invest in dual-use technologies serving both defense and civilian sectors, SDF recognizes Speeder's transformative capability as a unique and entirely new class of high-performance VTOL aircraft. Speeder delivers a previously impossible combination of compact size, speed, payload, and range performance by means of vectored thrust from its gimbaled turbine engines. Such high performance is possible thanks to the energy density of jet fuel, including sustainable aviation fuel. The funds will be used to continue the Speeder flight test program and progress the aircraft toward certification.
"We recognize that Mayman Aerospace has demonstrated unique competence in this highly complex engineering. SDF believes Speeder will deliver valuable, practical applications for defense forces in the very near future. The optimization of Speeder's existing propulsion control system, which can be adapted to future technologies, combined with its flexible operating capabilities influenced our decision to invest," says Mohamed Musabah Al Mazrouei, Director – Investments and Portfolio Management.
"As part of our strategic mandate, we look forward to exploring and developing synergies through our portfolio of related investments and partnership in aerospace, defense and autonomous sectors that would in turn potentially support the development of a family of primarily defense-focussed Speeder Air Utility Vehicles. We are also assessing a partnership to set up a Speeder manufacturing center in Abu Dhabi, including flight test, manufacturing, sales, and distribution throughout the MENA region," Al Mazrouei continued.
"This investment is testament to SDF's trust in Mayman Aerospace and belief in our unique technology. Speeder's potential to support multiple military applications is unparalleled and with the new investment we can transition our high-speed VTOL aircraft from flight test to robust commercialization. The possibilities are limitless, and we are delighted that SDF understands the incredible potential. We look forward to working with them to advance the new era of aviation for the military, civil and commercial sectors," says David Mayman, CEO and founder of Mayman Aerospace.