A Rhode Island Startup Has $8 Billion Dollars in Orders and Just Launched Its Prototype
GoLocalProv Business Team
A Rhode Island Startup Has $8 Billion Dollars in Orders and Just Launched Its Prototype
The company is developing the wing-in-ground (WIG) effect vehicle as future sea-skimming ferries. The concept is de facto a new category of maritime vehicle that combines the high speed of an airplane with the low operating cost of a boat and would be certified and regulated in the maritime category.
Maybe never before in Rhode Island history has a business stacked $8 billion in orders, according to the company.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTCEO Billy Thalheimer said, “Our studies, based on publicly validated data, show that our seagliders serve an $11 billion market that we project to swell to as much as $25 billion as battery technology advances. The $8 billion in orders our company has already received from a variety of companies around the world reflect the need for fast, reliable, and sustainable maritime transportation.”
The company has received orders for more than 400 seagliders -- that total $8 billion. Those orders come from airline and ferry operators around the world.
This past week Regent named Dennis Muilenburg, former CEO of The Boeing Company, and David Neeleman, co-founder of Breeze Airways, JetBlue, and Azul Airlines, to its Board of Advisors. The executives bring a broad set of aerospace technology and business development expertise to Regent as the company enters its next phase of growth.
“Dennis and David bring decades of combined experience in technology development, global manufacturing and distribution, and commercial operations that will be invaluable as REGENT looks ahead to delivering our first Viceroy seagliders by mid-decade,” said Thalheimer. “They have managed through all the hard parts of developing, deploying, and operating cutting-edge technology around the planet before. Their support underscores the significant market enthusiasm we’ve seen from our customers around the world that sustainable transportation—specifically in the form of our seagliders—is the future.”
“I’ve spent my career enabling new, easier, more accessible ways for people to travel, and Regent seagliders fill an urgent need for fast and sustainable coastal transportation,” said Neeleman. “It is critical for the manufacturer to have the interests and concerns of the operator top-of-mind, and that is exactly the voice I will bring to Regent leadership. I’m thrilled to join Regent at this crucial juncture and lend my expertise in helping to bring seagliders to customers and passengers around the world.”
"Throughout my 38 years of aerospace experience delivering capabilities for customers, the winning combination has been a product and technology whose value is clearly transformative, with a realistic plan to go from ideation to production readiness. That's what I see at Regent” said Muilenburg. “Scaling global distribution and support of aerospace technologies is not easy, but I am supremely confident in this team. Regent has already begun establishing the manufacturing capabilities and supply chain partnerships that will give them the robust ability to scale global production and deliver on their backlog, safely and effectively.”
The company has received orders for more than 400 seagliders worth $8 billion from airline and ferry operators around the world, as well as strategic investments from companies including Lockheed Martin, Japan Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines. REGENT has raised more than $50 million to date from investors, including Thiel Capital, Y Combinator, Founders Fund, and Mark Cuban.
