Skyryse, an El Segundo aviation technology company, raised more than $300m in a Series C round announced on 3 February 2026. SiliconANGLE reported that the round values the company at $1.15bn. Autopilot Ventures and returning investor Fidelity Management & Research Company led the round.
ArrowMark Partners, Atreides Management, BAM Elevate, Baron Capital Group, Durable Capital Partners, Positive Sum, the Qatar Investment Authority, the RCM Private Markets Fund managed by Rokos Capital Management (US) and Woodline Partners also took part, according to the company's release. Skyryse says it has raised more than $605m in equity since its founding in 2016.
“Both markets desperately need safety enhancing technology that also increases the ease of use of these aircraft”Mark Groden, CEO, Skyryse
What Skyryse does
Skyryse develops SkyOS, which it describes as the world's first universal operating system for flight. It replaces conventional mechanical flight controls with an integrated system, and the Los Angeles Business Journal described it as a hardware and software stack that can be retrofitted into any airplane or helicopter.
SiliconANGLE reported that SkyOS runs on a custom flight computer with 1.3 million lines of code, built to the 10-9 aviation safety standard with a triple-redundant architecture. The hardware includes an aviation-optimised joystick that can replace yokes and cyclics, linear electro-mechanical actuators and a motor control assembly.
The company flew a modified five-seat Robinson R66 helicopter, called Skyryse One, with more than 180 default components replaced. Sales are targeted for later in 2026, SiliconANGLE said. According to the company's release, SkyOS has also flown on a Cirrus SR22 airplane.
Certification and the military
The Federal Aviation Administration granted final design approval for SkyOS flight control computers in 2025. Skyryse is now in for-credit flight testing, and formal flight verification is the last step before certification, after which the civilian market can open, the Los Angeles Business Journal reported.
In December 2025 a Black Hawk helicopter flew with SkyOS after a 91-day integration, completing an automated pickup, hover and setdown. The release says announced contracts cover Airbus H125s and H130s, Bell 407s, Black Hawks and Pilatus PC-12s through partners United Rotorcraft, Air Methods and Mitsubishi Corporation.
What the money is for
Skyryse said the new funds will accelerate FAA certification and scale SkyOS across aircraft platforms, including the Black Hawk fleet. Chief executive Mark Groden told the Los Angeles Business Journal the round completes the product and gets it through certification, and that both the civilian and military markets desperately need safety-enhancing technology that also makes these aircraft easier to use.
The release said Skyryse's partnerships span the US military, emergency medical service operators, law enforcement, private operators and international markets, and that it was a finalist for the National Aeronautic Association's Collier Trophy. It added that an early prototype flew on a Robinson R44 in the company's first year. The sources do not state Skyryse's headcount or its earlier rounds individually.
Company website: skyryse.com