# James Dorris

> James Dorris is the co-founder and CEO of Odys Aviation, a Long Beach company building long-range, hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft that take off and land like a helicopter but cruise like an airplane. A former fusion physicist who started at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center, he helped build the propulsion and levitation tech at Virgin Hyperloop One before turning to flight. At Odys he is chasing aircraft that can lift off from a helipad, fly up to 1,000 miles on a hybrid system, and cut regional travel emissions sharply while serving defense, logistics, and passenger markets.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Odys Aviation
- **Organizations:** Odys Aviation, Virgin Hyperloop One, Arrivo, GoogleX, MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Fusion energy sciences / plasma physics research (Plasma Science and Fusion Center), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Odys Aviation, a Y Combinator (S21) advanced air mobility company., Raised a $26M Series A in October 2025 (led by Nova Threshold, with Tuchen Ventures), part of roughly $52.5M total funding., Secured 14 awarded contracts across three branches of the U.S. Department of Defense valued at over $11M.

## Career timeline

- **early career** — Fusion energy research at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center, developing hardware to spatially localize plasma instabilities.
- **2010s** — Leadership roles at GoogleX, then Virgin Hyperloop One as an early employee building and leading propulsion and levitation teams.
- **2010s** — Worked at Arrivo, another high-speed ground transportation venture.
- **2019** — Co-founded Odys Aviation (originally Craft Aerospace) with Axel Radermacher in April 2019.
- **2021** — Odys Aviation went through Y Combinator (Summer 2021 batch).
- **2022** — Developed an 18-foot wingspan prototype; public interviews detail the diamond box-wing, deflected-slipstream VTOL design.
- **2025** — Closed a $26M Series A led by Nova Threshold to accelerate full-scale flight testing of the Laila aircraft; total funding reaches roughly $52.5M.
- **2026** — Preparing first international operational launch in Q1 2026.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Odys Aviation, a Y Combinator (S21) advanced air mobility company.
- Raised a $26M Series A in October 2025 (led by Nova Threshold, with Tuchen Ventures), part of roughly $52.5M total funding.
- Secured 14 awarded contracts across three branches of the U.S. Department of Defense valued at over $11M.
- Developed the Laila, a nine-seat hybrid-electric VTOL targeting up to 200 miles fully electric and up to 1,000 miles with a gas turbine generator.
- Earlier helped build propulsion and levitation technology as an early employee at Virgin Hyperloop One.
- Began career conducting fusion energy research at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center.

## Latest updates

- **2025-10** — Odys Aviation closed a $26M Series A led by Nova Threshold to fund full-scale flight testing of the Laila aircraft and prepare international operations.
- **2026-01** — Company targeting its first international global operational launch in Q1 2026.

## Links

- Website: https://odysaviation.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jdorris3
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/odysaviation

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/james-dorris
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-12