{"id":94904,"date":"2026-02-19T15:12:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/893790763"},"modified":"2026-02-19T15:12:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:12:06","slug":"startup-developing-blended-wing-aircraft-for-cargo-use-raises-28-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/19\/startup-developing-blended-wing-aircraft-for-cargo-use-raises-28-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Startup Developing Blended Wing Aircraft For Cargo Use Raises $28 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Natilus'<\/p>\n

Natilus\u2019 KONA regional cargo aircraft. Image: Natilus.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Natilus, a startup focused on developing blended-wing aircraft for cargo and passenger applications, on Feb. 10 said it has raised $28 million in an early funding round that will allow it to finish manufacturing the first full-scale prototype of its KONA regional cargo plane that is expected to fly within two years.<\/p>\n

The Series A round was led by Draper Associates.<\/p>\n

KONA has a range of 900 nautical miles and can carry a payload of 3.8 metric tons. Natilus says the aircraft could support the Air Force\u2019s Agile Combat Employment and logistics supply in contested, austere environments like the Indo-Pacific region. The company has discussed KONA with the Army, Navy and Defense Department, it said.<\/p>\n

The company is also pursuing commercial markets for KONA.<\/p>\n

\n

Natilus is targeting 2029 to bring KONA to market. The San Diego-based startup said it has performed successful wind tunnel and subscale prototype testing and received a patent for the aircraft\u2019s diamond-shaped cargo bay.<\/p>\n

The funding round will also be used to continue development of HORIZON EVO, a 200-plus passenger aircraft that Natilus said will compete with the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A321neo. The design of EVO is transitioning to a dual-deck aircraft from a single-deck.<\/p>\n

Natilus said its partners include RTX\u2019s Pratt & Whitney engine business, which produces the geared turbofan, P&W Canada, the PT6 engine, CFM International, the LEAP engine, and RTX\u2019s Collins Aerospace for the cargo loading system.<\/p>\n

The combined $24 billion order book for the KONA and EVO exceeds 570 aircraft with most of the orders for KONA, Natilus said. Nolinor Aviation, Flexport and Ameriflight have reservations for KONA.<\/p>\n

Natilus says its blended-wing aircraft reduce fuel usage by 30 percent and carbon emissions and operational costs by 50 percent.<\/p>\n

The funding round included participation from Type One Ventures, The Veterans Fund, Flexport, New Vista Capital, Soma Capital, Liquid 2 VC, VU Venture Partners and Wave FX.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… developing blended-wing aircraft for cargo<\/span> and passenger applications, on … of its KONA regional cargo<\/span> plane that is expected … the aircraft\u00e2\u0080\u0099s diamond-shaped cargo<\/span> bay. The funding round … \u00e2\u0080\u0099s Collins Aerospace for the cargo<\/span> loading system. The combined …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94904\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}