EmbraerX and Pyka to Accelerate Growth of Autonomous Aerial Agriculture

EmbraerX, the disruptive innovation arm of Embraer, has partnered with Pyka, an Oakland-based startup, to accelerate the future of autonomous aerial agriculture operations.

The collaboration is focused on technology, certification, operations, and future commercialization of Pyka's Pelican, a 100% electric and autonomous fixed-wing agricultural aircraft.

“EmbraerX is a market accelerator committed to developing solutions that can transform the world and inspire our partners by approaching unprecedented ideas with creativity and grit,” said Daniel Moczydlower, head of EmbraerX. “Pyka’s innovation and technology capacity is aligned with our strategy to accelerate the creation of innovative business models through partnerships that have the potential for exponential growth.”

Both companies will pursue opportunities to scale commercial services as autonomous aircraft operations in Brazil evolve in the coming years. Pyka’s Pelican is already flying for customers in Central America.

“We're incredibly excited to team up with one of the world's largest aerospace companies to enable our vision of bringing electric aircraft into everyday use,” said Michael Norcia, CEO and co-founder at Pyka. “We've been laser-focused on certifying and delivering a compelling autonomous electric aircraft to serve customers. Now, we are working with an industry leading aerospace partner in one of the largest agricultural markets in the world to help scale our electric aircraft business. We look forward to working with EmbraerX to further integrate autonomous electric aircraft into the agriculture industry and the broader economy.”

See also: Rolls-Royce's All-Electric Spirit of Innovation Aircraft Takes Off for First Time.

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