Alteon | $2.5M (Pre-Seed)

Founders: Samay Sanghvi

Founded: 2025

HQ: Bengaluru

Sector: Aerospace / Autonomous Aircraft

What they do

→ Building autonomous fixed-wing aircraft designed to stay airborne for months using dynamic soaring

→ Harvests energy from ocean wind gradients, a technique inspired by albatrosses

→ ~3-metre wingspan aircraft, flying close to the water to access usable wind shear

→ Targets maritime surveillance, weather monitoring, ocean mapping, ship tracking, and infrastructure security

The Funding

→ Raised $2.5M in a pre-seed round

→ Led by Lachy Groom (solo investor, former early Stripe employee)

→ Participation from Together Fund

→ Previously backed at an earlier stage by Emergent Ventures and 1517 Fund

Why it matters

→ Founder Samay Sanghvi, 20, started building the concept straight out of high school in 2023, with no formal engineering degree

→ Recently completed 7 autonomous O-shaped loops over the Bay of Bengal, one metre above the water at 62+ mph

→ Aims for "energy-neutral dynamic soaring" flight with propulsion fully switched off

→ Could offer persistent ocean coverage at a fraction of the cost of ships or satellites

Can a 20-year-old founder actually crack a problem aerospace giants haven't solved?