Poseidon Aerospace, a Silicon Valley startup building uncrewed cargo aircraft, has raised a $60 million Series A funding round ahead of the first test flight of its pilotless plane, Egret, expected by the end of 2026. The company, founded by former Amazon logistics employee David Zagaynov and ex-Lockheed Martin engineer Parker Tenney, aims to cut the cost of air cargo by avoiding flashy but unproven technology, instead building simple fixed-wing aircraft that can operate without pilots.

The round was led by TQ Ventures, with new backing from Hanwha Asset Management, G Squared and JAWS, alongside existing investors Starship Ventures, Draper Associates and Drover Ventures, following an earlier $11 million seed round. Rather than vertical take-off and landing or electric/hydrogen propulsion, Poseidon's Egret and its seaplane variant Heron use conventional combustion engines, prioritising energy density and low operating cost. The firm plans to operate its own aircraft rather than sell them, targeting defence logistics to remote or underserved locations, as well as regional commercial cargo routes in competition with carriers such as UPS and FedEx.