# Arthur Dubois

> Arthur Dubois is the co-founder and CEO of Grid Aero, a Palo Alto-based autonomous cargo aircraft startup building what he calls 'the pickup truck of the skies' - rugged, unmanned aircraft capable of hauling thousands of pounds over thousands of miles to places conventional logistics can't reach. A Stanford-trained aerospace engineer who helped scale Joby Aviation and led engineering at Xwing before its acquisition by Joby, Dubois founded Grid Aero in 2024 after growing frustrated with the complexity and cost of retrofitting legacy aircraft for autonomy. In January 2026, Grid Aero raised a $20M Series A to bring its Lifter Lite autonomous cargo aircraft from prototype testing into real-world military and commercial operations.

- **Role:** Co-founder & CEO at Grid Aero
- **Organizations:** Grid Aero, Xwing, Joby Aviation, Kitty Hawk, Northrop Grumman
- **Nationality:** French-American
- **Education:** MS, Aerospace Engineering, Stanford University, BS, Mechanical Engineering, McGill University
- **Known for:** Led engineering for Xwing's autonomous conversion of the Cessna 208 Caravan, one of the most advanced autonomy retrofits attempted on a commercial aircraft, Co-founded Grid Aero and built a full-scale autonomous cargo aircraft prototype in approximately six months from an empty hangar, Raised $26M total across seed and Series A rounds for Grid Aero

## Career timeline

- **2013-2016** — Early career in aerospace engineering, including Northrop Grumman and U.S. Air Force-adjacent work
- **2016-2019** — Engineer at Kitty Hawk, working on eVTOL aircraft design
- **2019-2021** — Aerospace engineer at Joby Aviation, helping scale the company's eVTOL program
- **2021-2024** — VP of Engineering at Xwing, leading autonomous flight systems including autonomous conversion of Cessna 208 Caravan; Xwing's autonomy division acquired by Joby Aviation in 2024
- **2024** — Founded Grid Aero in California with a team of aviation experts
- **2024** — Grid Aero builds the Lifter Lite autonomous cargo prototype in approximately six months
- **2025-01** — Grid Aero raises $6M seed round co-led by Calibrate Ventures and Ubiquity Ventures, plus AFWERX SBIR Phase II award
- **2025-08** — Grid Aero emerges from stealth, publicly unveils Lifter Lite autonomous cargo aircraft
- **2026-01** — Grid Aero closes $20M Series A co-led by Bison Ventures and Geodesic Capital, total funding reaches $26M

## Achievements

- Led engineering for Xwing's autonomous conversion of the Cessna 208 Caravan, one of the most advanced autonomy retrofits attempted on a commercial aircraft
- Co-founded Grid Aero and built a full-scale autonomous cargo aircraft prototype in approximately six months from an empty hangar
- Raised $26M total across seed and Series A rounds for Grid Aero
- Secured a Direct-to-Phase II SBIR award from AFWERX for Grid Aero
- Helped scale Joby Aviation from early-stage to leading eVTOL company
- Aligned Grid Aero's technology with three of the Department of Defense's six critical technology areas: Contested Logistics, Applied AI, and Scalable Autonomous Systems
- Speaker at UC Berkeley TechTransfer's Future of Aviation conference

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Grid Aero closes $20M Series A led by Bison Ventures and Geodesic Capital, with participation from Stony Lonesome Group, Alumni Ventures, and returning investors.
- **2025-08** — Grid Aero emerges from stealth with $6M seed round and publicly announces the Lifter Lite autonomous cargo aircraft.
- **2025-08** — Dubois describes the Lifter Lite as 'the pickup truck of the skies,' built to carry heavy payloads across long distances to austere locations.

## Links

- Website: https://grid.aero
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthur-dubois-aero

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/arthur-dubois
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-14