Bengaluru deep-tech startup Alteon has raised $2.5 Mn in a pre-seed round led by solo investor Lachy Groom, with participation from Together Fund. The round is worth about Rs 24 crore.
Alteon builds autonomous aircraft meant to stay in the air for months without landing. The company said the money will fund its dynamic-soaring technology, expand research, and pay for a fleet of aircraft over the ocean.
The startup was founded in 2023 by Samay Sanghvi, now 20. He started building aircraft straight out of high school. He has no formal engineering degree, and learned by making and crashing radio-controlled models before building working prototypes.
Dynamic soaring is the method behind the aircraft. It is the same technique albatrosses use. The bird moves between layers of air travelling at different speeds and pulls energy from the gap. Alteon’s first aircraft has a wingspan of about three metres.
The round follows an offshore test in August 2026. Alteon’s aircraft flew seven consecutive loops on its own, less than one metre above the sea, at more than 62 miles per hour. The test was over the Bay of Bengal.
The company now employs 20 people. It builds four to five aircraft a week and says it ran more than 200 test flights in the past 30 days. Early backing came from Emergent Ventures and 1517.
Alteon plans to first sell the aircraft for maritime surveillance, giving governments a live view of their waters. The harder step still ahead is “energy-neutral dynamic soaring,” which means flying with the engine off. Sanghvi told TechCrunch that Groom decided to invest within 30 minutes of their first meeting.
What this means for you: A pre-seed round of this size for hardware, led by a US solo investor, shows foreign money is chasing Indian deep-tech well before revenue.
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