Deeptech Startup Alteon Raises $2.5 Mn Led By Lachy Groom to Make Perpetual flights a Reality

Alteon, a Bengaluru-based deeptech startup developing autonomous high-endurance flights, has raised $2.5 million in a pre-seed round led by Lachy Groom with participation from Together Fund. 

Founded in 2025 by 20-year-old Samay Sanghvi, the startup is working on building high-endurance airplanes that can stay in flight for months. It is developing autonomous dynamic soaring vehicles that extract energy from wind gradients to remain airborne for extended periods.

Dynamic soaring is a flight technique that, rather than relying on lift, uses wind shear to exploit differences in the velocity of two different air masses. Albatrosses and other large seabirds use this method to circumnavigate the oceans without flapping their wings. It is also used by some gliders to fly at high speeds.

In August, the 20-member company conducted an offshore flight test where its aircraft autonomously flew multiple consecutive loops less than a metre above the open ocean. 

"Today we already know that it is possible to gain energy from the wind using dynamic soaring. Building aircraft that fly for over a year using it, is not a matter of a single technical breakthrough but a matter of solving a range of challenging engineering problems across autonomy, structures, aero and more," Founder and CEO Sanghvi said in a statement.

Alteon's goal is to develop fleets that can carry a range of payloads for applications, from mapping weather and ocean conditions, tracking ships, and fishing activity to monitoring critical infrastructure, and coordinating autonomous systems across defence, search and rescue, science, and industry.

“Samay and team are making remarkable progress toward building an airplane that can stay aloft for more than a year at a time. If they get this right, we could soon have millions of them—essentially parked in the sky—doing things that today require large ships, crews, and huge amounts of infrastructure," said Lachy Groom, angel investor and co-founder of Physical Intelligence that is building foundational AI models for robots.

The Australian investor previously led a $20 million Series B extension funding round into the Bengaluru-based home services startup Pronto. He has also backed drone delivery startup Airbound.

Alteon will use the funding to accomplish autonomous dynamic soaring without propulsion, while scaling R&D toward deploying a fleet of these aircraft over the ocean.

The startup has also received early backing from Emergent Ventures and 1517.