With a new $300 million investment, Skyryse Inc. has crossed over the billion-dollar threshold.

The El Segundo-based aviation automation company raised its latest funding in early February through a series C round, led by Autopilot Ventures and Fidelity Management & Research Company. Other investors include ArrowMark Partners, Atreides Management, BAM Elevate, Baron Capital Group Inc., Durable Capital Partners, Positive Sum, Qatar Investment Authority, RCM Private Markets Fund managed by Rokos Capital Management (US), Woodline Partners, and more.

Skyryse’s valuation jumped to $1.15 billion, with more than $605 million raised in equity capital since its inception in 2016. The new fund allows the manufacturer to push its SkyOS system – “a hardware and software technology stack that is retrofittable into every airplane and helicopter” to improve flight safety, ease and stability – closer to the finish line, said Mark Groden, Skyryse chief executive.

Final phases

“It completes the product, gets it through the (Federal Aviation Administration) certification, and moves towards the commercialization,” Groden said. “Not just for the initial single-engine helicopter, but also many other airplanes and helicopters that we already have in our backlog.”

The system serves both military clients and civilians, Groden added. The Federal Aviation Administration granted final design approval for SkyOS last year. A formal flight verification is the last step towards certification, after which the civilian market can pick up the product. On the military front, Skyryse reported a successful first flight of a Black Hawk helicopter with SkyOS last December.

“Both markets desperately need safety enhancing technology that also increases the ease of use of these aircraft,” Gorden said. “We’re really passionate about bringing it to both.”