# Grid Aero

> Grid Aero is a Palo Alto aerospace and defense startup building the Lifter-Lite, an autonomous, long-range, heavy-lift cargo drone designed to move thousands of pounds across thousands of miles for military and commercial customers. Founded in 2024 by Arthur Dubois - a veteran of Joby Aviation and Xwing - the company is targeting contested logistics in the Pacific theater and remote civilian routes, with a deliberately simple airframe and AI-enhanced autonomy.

- **Founded:** 2024
- **Headquarters:** Palo Alto, California, United States
- **Founders:** Arthur Dubois (Co-founder & CEO)
- **Team size:** ~25
- **Products:** Lifter-Lite, The Grid
- **Notable:** Built a full-scale autonomous cargo aircraft in roughly six months, Raised $26M total across Seed and Series A within ~18 months of founding, Won Direct-to-Phase II SBIR from AFWERX

## Products & services

- **Lifter-Lite** — A clean-sheet, autonomous, high-wing turboprop cargo aircraft designed to carry 2,000-10,000 lb across thousands of miles, built from sheet metal, rivets, and off-the-shelf electronics for radical affordability.
- **The Grid** — A networked fleet operating model that lets small teams manage dozens of autonomous aircraft across distributed routes - regional cargo, e-commerce, humanitarian airlift, and military resupply.

## Achievements

- Built a full-scale autonomous cargo aircraft in roughly six months
- Raised $26M total across Seed and Series A within ~18 months of founding
- Won Direct-to-Phase II SBIR from AFWERX
- First Lifter-Lite runway appearance alongside a C-130 in late 2025

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Closed $20M Series A led by Bison Ventures and Geodesic Capital.
- **2025-08** — Emerged from stealth with $6M seed and unveiled the Lifter-Lite autonomous cargo aircraft.
- **2025-09** — Lifter-Lite made its first runway appearance alongside a C-130 during flight-test prep.

## Links

- Website: https://grid.aero
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grid-aero

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/grid-aero
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-29