# David Zagaynov

> David Zagaynov is the CEO and co-founder of Poseidon Aerospace, a San Francisco aerospace startup building unmanned, runway-independent cargo aircraft. A UC Berkeley computer science graduate and former Amazon software engineer, he co-founded the company in 2023 with Parker Tenney and Isaac Baumstark around a shared obsession with the ekranoplan, a Soviet Cold War boat-plane that skimmed just above the water. Poseidon is developing the Heron seaplane and the Egret short-takeoff aircraft, each designed to haul up to two tons of cargo over 1,500 miles. The company raised an $11 million seed round in November 2025 led by Tamarack Global, after a $1.4 million pre-seed led by Starship Ventures.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Poseidon Aerospace
- **Organizations:** Poseidon Aerospace, Amazon
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Poseidon Aerospace as CEO, Raised $12.4M total ($1.4M pre-seed, $11M seed) from investors including Tamarack Global, Draper Associates, Starship Ventures, Drover Ventures, Cade Ventures, GoAhead Ventures and Fortitude VC, Built the Seagull, an unmanned carbon-fiber sea glider prototype with a 13-foot wingspan

## Career timeline

- **Pre-2022** — Studied computer science at UC Berkeley
- **2022** — Worked as a software engineer at Amazon for about a year after graduating
- **2023** — Co-founded Poseidon Aerospace with Parker Tenney and Isaac Baumstark, fixated on reviving ekranoplan ground-effect technology
- **2024** — Raised a $1.4M pre-seed round led by Starship Ventures; emerged from stealth with the Seagull prototype seaplane
- **2025** — Closed an $11M seed round on November 5, led by Tamarack Global, to build the Heron and Egret unmanned cargo aircraft
- **2026** — Scheduled flight testing of Heron and Egret in mid-2026; speaking at Apex Defense

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Poseidon Aerospace as CEO
- Raised $12.4M total ($1.4M pre-seed, $11M seed) from investors including Tamarack Global, Draper Associates, Starship Ventures, Drover Ventures, Cade Ventures, GoAhead Ventures and Fortitude VC
- Built the Seagull, an unmanned carbon-fiber sea glider prototype with a 13-foot wingspan
- Established a CRADA with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division
- Stood up a manufacturing facility in Brunswick, Maine and offices in San Francisco and Washington, DC

## Latest updates

- **2025-11** — Poseidon Aerospace closed an $11M seed round led by Tamarack Global to build the Heron and Egret unmanned cargo platforms.
- **2026-01** — Listed as a speaker at Apex Defense on sustaining forces in contested, dispersed theaters of operation.
- **2026-06** — Heron and Egret flight testing targeted for mid-2026.

## Links

- Website: https://poseidonaero.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidzag
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/DavidZagaynov

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/david-zagaynov
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-24