Electric drones can only fly for fifteen minutes when carrying a heavy payload. Existing gas-powered drones have the ability to fly longer, but can’t carry heavy payloads. Ongoing and dangerous problems, like the wildfire crisis could seriously benefit from the use of drones, but need long flight-time and heavy-lift.  The Department of the Interior, Forest Service, Navy and other agencies are actively looking for heavy lift solutions for wildfire and other applications, but the existing solutions are too limited in terms of flight duration and payload.

Our new Parallel Hybrid technology is a 10X gain over existing solutions in terms of flight-time with a heavy payload. Our Parallel Hybrid system increases efficiency and eliminates a heavy generator component used in other hybrids. This means higher efficiency and more payload capability. Parallel hybridization is used in the automotive world, but has never been applied to drones, until now.  

The market for wildland firefighting is $10B in the USA, Canada, and Australia and is growing by around 10% per year.[1]  The commercial drone sector is estimated to reach $34B by 2022.[2] And the Urban Air Mobility market should reach $5B by 2023, and $87B by 2035.[3] Our technology will have important verticals in all of these markets. In the commercial drone industry our technology will enable logistics missions, Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS), heavy sensor payloads, and long hover missions. In the Urban Air Mobility space, our technology will be ideal for developing air ambulances, which have been identified as a technology better suited to hybrid technology. 

Our initial market is wildland fire. Wildfires are an urgent public safety crisis that has been exacerbated by environmental problems. Every year, thousands become victims of wildfires and there is a constant search for new technology that will help combat these fires. Our drone technology will help firefighters by bringing them supplies such as tools, fuel, food, water, etc.  while they are in the field. It will also be able to perform controlled burns, which is an important tool for fighting wildfires. Our aircraft will also be able directly drop water on spot fires when manned aircraft are grounded due to heavy smoke or during the night. 

In fall of 2018 we demonstrated our core principles with a proof-of-concept aircraft. In August 2019, we successfully demonstrated heavy lift capability and duration with our new prototype aircraft, which was incredibly exciting.  We are currently being funded by a NASA Phase 1 SBIR, which will help us upgrade our aircraft for enhanced reliability. When this is complete it will be ready for joint exercise missions with several agencies interested in our products. We anticipate flying these missions in 2020. 

We are working directly with the unmanned systems programs within the Department of the Interior and Forestry Service.  These organizations are interested in heavy lift unmanned aircraft for a number of missions. One mission of interest is controlled burns. Several pilots have tragically died over the years in these missions, so the agencies are beginning to use drones. However, they need longer flight times and heavier payloads - and that is where Parallel comes in.  In 2018, the DOI flew over 10,000 drone missions and they are looking to increase their capability with heavy lift technology.[4][5]  On the state side we are in conversation with Cal Fire, which is just beginning to develop its drone program. On the municipal level, we are working with LA City Fire. Parallel has letters of intent signed with companies for important applications such as search and rescue, controlled ignition, and invasive species removal.

Our heavy-lift unmanned aircraft are programmed from a ground station, and then autonomously perform the mission. The aircraft can also be remote-controlled by a pilot. Because our technology greatly expands the flight-time and payload capability of drones, there are many use-cases including firefighting, agriculture, search-and-rescue, and logistics. Performing these missions autonomously will increase safety and reduce cost. 

Parallel will make money by selling aircraft, aircraft contracts, and service contracts. Our initial customers will be federal, state, and municipal agencies tasked with wildland firefighting, as well as private contractors that provide wildfire services. Our initial aircraft product is anticipated to cost around $150,000 with a COGS of $80,000. Aircraft purchased outright will typically have a service plan associated with the aircraft. In addition to aircraft sales, customers can also contract aircraft on an Exclusive Use or Call When Needed basis. Both the aircraft sales (with service contract) and contract models are sources of recurring revenue for Parallel. 

Our systems are designed around heavy lift applications which go beyond carrying sensors. One of our greatest advantages is flight time while carrying a heavy payload. Most other drones can fly for 15 minutes with a heavy load; we can fly for hours. Our platform will also be less expensive than all-electric drones because of the large number of batteries they have to carry. Often users of all-electric platforms buy multiple battery sets, expensive charging systems, and generators, but our customers will not incur these costs.

Parallel provides the longest flight times at heavy payloads compared to other technologies

In three years, we intend to be the premier supplier of heavy-lift unmanned systems for heavy-lift public safety applications, such as firefighting and search-and-rescue. We will also have pilot programs underway for adjacent markets such as ship-to-shore, remote logistics, and agriculture. In the future we plan our scaling our technology for the Urban Air Mobility market for applications such as air ambulances.

CEO and co-founder Joshua Resnick led system architecture and electrical engineering for the Tesla Semi Truck program. Before moving to California, he led research for the State of Alaska developing hybrid commercial fishing boat technology. He has been building and flying RC planes and helicopters since he was 13. Our founding team has core competencies in the key areas: hybrid powertrains, drone operations, control theory, machine vision, and robotics. We bring experience from Tesla, Verb Surgical, and the Navy.  We have brought in advisors related to our market, business development, and strategy. 

Dear Investor,

I am striving to build a company that reflects the values that my co-founders and I hold dear.  We will do this by applying our technology to use-cases that save lives, property, and the environment. 

Lives

Whether it is making firefighting safer and more effective, delivering supplies after a natural disaster, performing search and rescue, or bringing medical supplies to a remote village, our technology will save lives. This isn't about air-dropping burritos by drone - this is about applications that are life and death.

Property

Over the past twenty years wildfires have been getting steadily worse, but 2017 was a tipping point with the devastating fires in Santa Rosa and Ventura, CA. Then the 2018 fire season came. The "Camp Fire" destroyed the entire town of Paradise, CA - it killed 86 people and destroyed 18,804 structures. There was also the Mendicino Complex fire which burned almost half a million acres, making it the largest fire in California history. This is not to mention the massive wildfires in Greece, Alaska, Australia and the Amazon.  Parallel is committed to developing new solutions to this worldwide problem.

Environment

Ok, I admit it. I am green at heart! That's why I spent 5 years developing energy efficient power systems for fishing boats in Alaska, and that is why I joined Tesla in 2015 to lead the electrical engineering efforts for the Tesla semi truck. One of my core values is building technologies that reduce carbon emissions. So, why am I building a hybrid aircraft? Doesn't hybrid still mean petrol powered? In the case of firefighting, gasoline is the best option because it is already part of the firefighting supply chain. However, I am committed to carbon neutral fuels for all applications that are not life-critical. 

I hope you will join us on this exciting journey to save lives, property, and the environment!

Sincerely,

Joshua Resnick, CEO - Parallel Flight Technologies