Reliable Robotics Lands $115M, Crosses $1B Valuation — SkimNews
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- Reliable Robotics raised $115 million in an extension of its Series D — $90 million in equity led by Nimble Partners and $25 million in debt from Silicon Valley Bank — bringing total Series D funding to $275 million and pushing its valuation past $1 billion.
- Reliable Robotics has now raised $380 million to date, with additional investors including Gideon Strategic Partners, RockCreek, Geek Ventures, Gold Hill Capital, and Sparkwave Capital.
- Co-founders Robert Rose and Juerg Frefel are both SpaceX veterans; Rose also held stints at Tesla and Google and serves as CEO, while Frefel spent nearly a decade as an engineer at SpaceX before becoming CTO.
- Rose expects FAA certification for the company's first product, continuous autopilot engagement that handles engine startup, taxiing, takeoff, and landing, in 18 to 24 months.
- The second certification push, removing the pilot from the cockpit to a ground-control station, is at least three years away, per Rose.
- Reliable's in-house solid-state collision-avoidance radar — developed after legacy suppliers declined the project — uses no moving parts, scans at longer range and higher resolution, and is targeted for FAA certification by end of 2027.
- Reliable Airlines, based in Albuquerque, operates six Cessna Caravans flying cargo six days a week and is the company's fourth certification target under a separate set of FAA airline-operations rules.
Why it matters: The round signals that autonomous aviation — long stuck in the certification slow lane — is drawing sustained capital from a SpaceX alumni-built team: $380 million raised to date, a $1B-plus valuation, and four parallel FAA certification tracks give Reliable a multi-year head start over rivals who would have to rebuild its systems, supplier relationships, and carrier operations from scratch.
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