CategoryDrones
Appears inMilitary & defense drones
Overview
Grid Aero is a San Leandro-based aerospace startup building Lifter-Lite, a low-cost autonomous cargo aircraft designed to carry 2,000–10,000 lbs over thousands of miles in contested environments. Founded in 2024 by a team of aerospace veterans, the company pairs simple, attritable airframes with autonomous software to enable distributed airlift for military, humanitarian, and remote commercial logistics — a 'flying pickup truck' aimed at Pacific-theater contested logistics and austere operations where traditional platforms like the C-130 are too expensive and vulnerable.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- None on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Key facts
Founded
HQ
CEO
Co-founders
FAA certification
Air Force contract
Cargo capacity
Partnerships
Headquarters
Hero image candidate
Data & sources
News coverage
1
Web sources
1
2 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Grid Aero on the deployment map
Where Grid Aero's robots are verified operating. Explore the deployment map by place and type.
- delivery and inspection drones in United States →
- delivery and inspection drones in California →
- delivery and inspection drones in Ukraine (combat zones) →
- delivery and inspection drones in Nevada →
- delivery and inspection drones in United Kingdom →
- delivery and inspection drones in China →
- The global deployment map →
Relationships
Current leadership (8)
- Arthur Dubois Co-founder & CEOsecondary-verified
- Chinmay Patel Co-founder & CTOsecondary-verified
- Chinmay Patel Co-foundersecondary-verified
- Arthur Dubois Co-foundersecondary-verified
- Alex Kroll Co-foundersecondary-verified
- Alex Kroll Co-founder & former Air Force test pilotsecondary-verified
- Brandon Florian Co-founder & Chief Commercial Officersecondary-verified
- Brandon Florian Co-foundersecondary-verified
Safety record
No incidents on record for Grid Aero.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Recent coverage
Grid Aero in third-party press
Financial state
- Reporting basis
- private_disclosed
- Lifecycle stage
- early
- Counterparty risk class
- moderate
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Partnerships (2)
- Grid Aero x A2G International with A2G Internationaldeploymentannouncedreported, not operationally verified
- Grid Aero x Everts Air with Everts Airdeploymentannouncedreported, not operationally verified
Funding rounds (2)
- Seed
$6M(reported)
- Series A2026-01-26
$20M
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Record createdJul 25, 2026
Added to the verified registry
Sources (2)
Common questions
- What is Grid Aero?
- Grid Aero is a San Leandro-based aerospace startup building Lifter-Lite, a low-cost autonomous cargo aircraft designed to carry 2,000–10,000 lbs over thousands of miles in contested environments. Founded in 2024 by a team of aerospace veterans, the company pairs simple, attritable airframes with autonomous software to enable distributed airlift for military, humanitarian, and remote commercial logistics — a 'flying pickup truck' aimed at Pacific-theater contested logistics and austere operations where traditional platforms like the C-130 are too expensive and vulnerable.
- What does Grid Aero make?
- Grid Aero has 1 robot model on the DEPLOY registry: Lifter-Lite (Grid Aero builds both physical robots and the AI that runs them).
- Is Grid Aero publicly traded?
- No. Grid Aero is privately held and not publicly traded, per the DEPLOY registry.
- Who is the CEO of Grid Aero?
- Arthur Dubois is the ceo of Grid Aero, per the DEPLOY registry.
- How can I invest in Grid Aero?
- Grid Aero is a private company; its shares are not available on public markets, so retail investors cannot buy the stock today. It has raised $26M in disclosed funding.
- Where is Grid Aero headquartered?
- Grid Aero is headquartered in San Leandro, California, USA.
- How much funding has Grid Aero raised?
- Grid Aero has raised approximately $26M in disclosed funding on record in the DEPLOY registry.
- Who owns Grid Aero?
- Grid Aero is privately held and venture-backed ($26M raised); ownership sits with its founders and private investors.
- Where does Grid Aero operate robots?
- Grid Aero is a robot manufacturer and does not directly operate deployments on the DEPLOY registry. Its products are deployed by customer operators; see the company page for the verified deployment record.
- Is Grid Aero safe?
- Grid Aero has no incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. This does not constitute a safety guarantee; it reflects the incidents DEPLOY has tracked and verified to date.
Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-25
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-07-25
Sources by quality tier
- 1
- secondary-industry-publication
- Industry publication
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Grid Aero.In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Grid Aero from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Grid Aero Raises 0 Million As It Preps To Begin Flying Long-Range Cargo UAS
Aviation Today reports Grid Aero's 0M Series A co-led by Bison Ventures and Geodesic Capital; Lifter Lite prototype in ground/taxi testing preparing for flight; partnerships with…
Aerospace & Defense Startup Grid Aero Raises 0M Series A to Scale Long-Range Autonomous Airlift
AeroMorning covers Grid Aero's 0M Series A; partnerships with Everts Air and Aviation Without Borders for remote/humanitarian logistics; DoD critical technology areas (Contested…
Startup Emerges, Announcing its Autonomous Cargo Aircraft
National Defense Magazine reports Grid Aero's emergence from stealth with the Lifter-Lite autonomous cargo drone; CEO Arthur Dubois presents the aircraft for contested logistics…
This Airborne Robot Pickup Truck Could Be A Lifeline For U.S. Troops In War With China
Forbes profiles Grid Aero's emergence from stealth with the Lifter-Lite prototype, a low-cost autonomous cargo plane designed for Pacific-theater contested logistics; CEO Arthur…
Grid Aero Emerges as New Autonomous Aircraft Player
FLYING magazine covers Grid Aero's clean-sheet autonomous cargo aircraft approach; CEO Arthur Dubois describes Lifter-Lite as a 'flying pickup truck'; AFWERX SBIR Phase II…
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/grid-aero.md
- RSS feed: /companies/grid-aero/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/8bd996d7-21ca-4238-8071-99f56f9e6813
- Revision history: /companies/grid-aero/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Video
Overview of Grid Aero and its Lifter Lite autonomous cargo aircraft for military and commercial logistics.
Grid Aero unveiled the Lifter-Lite, a long-range autonomous cargo drone designed to revolutionize military logistics.