Elysian Aircraft Co-Founder on Decarbonizing Aviation with EV Batteries

How do you build products that can keep pace with the climate crisis without compromising on speed, innovation, or customer insight? The scale and urgency of the transformation required to fight climate change has never been more clear. Building hardware and software products, acquiring the funding and creating a diverse community to enhance talent capacity and to drive innovation, is essential to tackling this global environmental crisis. In this podcast, Silicon Valley Bank (a division of First Citizens Bank) Climate Tech & Sustainability SVP Maggie Wong will be interviewing Elysian Aircraft Co-Founder & Co-CEO Daniel Rosen Jacobson to discuss decarbonizing aviation with EV batteries, prioritizing to get customer feedback early, as well as being able to learn and unlearn to succeed in product development.

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Show Notes

1. Elysian Aircraft is developing the largest battery-electric aircraft to date, with a 90-passenger payload focused on short-haul flights up to 1000 kilometers.
2. The aircraft design features batteries integrated into the wings, a distributed propulsion system, multiple engines, and a backup system.
3. Initial skepticism from academic experts was overcome with successful validation from renowned institutions such as TU Delft and MIT.
4. Nearly half the world’s flights are short-haul (<1000km), making electrification a significant decarbonization opportunity.
5. Daniel Rosen Jacobson’s background combines aviation family experience, economics, and a tech career at Google before co-founding Elysian.
6. Elysian’s academic-first design approach resulted in an aircraft optimized for battery weight and energy storage, challenging conventional views.
7. The target market includes both major global airlines and regionally focused carriers, especially those with flexible network needs.
8. The aircraft offers operational cost advantages, maintenance benefits, and the ability to fit into existing airline networks without major changes.
9. Go-to-market plans prioritize airports with sufficient electric infrastructure and regions where alternatives like rail are less feasible.
10. Building physical prototypes and demonstrating tangible progress is essential for convincing customers, regulators, and investors.
11. Battery safety, especially when integrated into the wing, is the biggest technical and regulatory challenge Elysian faces.
12. Elysian is developing proprietary solutions to safety-related battery challenges and working toward regulatory certification.
13. The company values diversity in its team, prioritizing different backgrounds, experiences, and thinking styles during recruitment.
14. Efforts are being made to cultivate diversity especially among junior roles and new entrants to the aerospace and tech fields.
15. There are limited pools of diverse senior talent in aerospace, but inclusivity remains a core value even when hiring is difficult.
16. The major opportunity in aviation and climate tech is accelerated innovation and electrification, while political and funding headwinds pose key challenges.
17. Government and public funding are potential enablers, but access remains difficult for small startups due to bureaucracy and administration barriers.
18. Elysian’s technology could have broader applications beyond its aircraft, with potential for dual-use in civil and defense sectors.
19. Fundraising is critical due to the capital-intensive nature of developing and certifying large electric aircraft; the company is currently raising its Series A.
20. Adaptability, customer focus, rapid prototyping, and the ability to unlearn established processes are seen as hallmarks of great product leadership at Elysian.