Aerospace AI startup Air Space Intelligence valued at about $300 million in new financing
An artificial intelligence startup targeting air travel has raised $34 million in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz to more aggressively pursue deals with the Department of Defense.
Air Space Intelligence Inc. has long sold its tools — which have been described as Waze for air travel — to commercial carriers including Alaska Airlines. The startup's marquee product, called Flyways, can help flight dispatchers pick routes for planes, taking into account factors like flight traffic, weather and airport conditions.
The new financing brings Air Space's valuation to roughly $300 million, according to people familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified because the details are private. The startup declined to comment on its valuation.
This fall, Air Space won two contracts with the US Air Force totaling $2.7 million and has qualified to compete for a third valued at as much as $900 million, the startup said. News of the deals has not been been previously reported.
Air Space joins a growing cohort of Silicon Valley startups seeking to win the US Defense Department as a customer. Earlier this year, it signed an eight-figure, multiyear deal with Alaska Airlines, and the startup says that the segment of its business related to commercial customers is profitable. Now, following a series of small deals with the US Air Force, it's working to expand its government business. Air Space CEO Phillip Buckendorf said that eventually the company aims to build out the government side of its operation to the same scale as its commercial one, “if not bigger.”
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David Ulevitch, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, said Air Space was an appealing bet in part because
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