# Javier Vidal

> Javier Vidal is the Madrid-born founder and CEO of Moonware, a Los Angeles startup building HALO, the world's first AI-powered Ground Traffic Control platform for airfields. A mechanical engineer trained at Duke who filed his first patent at 15 and became one of Tesla's youngest employees at 19, Vidal cut his teeth on autonomy at Tesla, Uber ATG, and Uber Elevate before setting out to replace the walkie-talkies and whiteboards that still run airport ramps. Moonware has raised roughly $9.3M and deployed HALO with carriers and handlers including British Airways, dnata, Aerocharter, Japan Airlines, and PrimeFlight.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Moonware
- **Organizations:** Moonware, Uber Elevate, Uber ATG, Tesla
- **From:** Madrid, Spain
- **Nationality:** Spanish
- **Education:** Mechanical Engineering, Duke University
- **Known for:** Granted his first patent at age 15, Became one of Tesla's youngest employees at age 19, Founded Moonware and built HALO, described as the world's first AI-powered Ground Traffic Control platform

## Career timeline

- **~2013** — Granted his first patent at age 15
- **—** — Began engineering career at a robotics company in Tokyo, Japan
- **2018** — Joined Tesla at age 19 - one of its youngest employees - working on autonomous material conveyance during the Model 3 production ramp
- **—** — Uber ATG: bridged systems and hardware engineering teams for self-driving vehicle development
- **—** — Uber Elevate: designed autonomous pushback vehicles for air taxis / urban air mobility
- **2020** — Founded Moonware with co-founder Saunon Malekshahi
- **2023** — Closed $2.5M pre-seed led by Third Prime; first paid HALO deployment
- **2024** — Closed $7M seed round (March); unveiled HALO on Apple Vision Pro at GHI Barcelona (December)
- **2025** — Expanded HALO to Japan Airlines (Haneda) and PrimeFlight (Santa Lucia); won Ground Handling Digital Innovation Award and Gold Stevie Award

## Achievements

- Granted his first patent at age 15
- Became one of Tesla's youngest employees at age 19
- Founded Moonware and built HALO, described as the world's first AI-powered Ground Traffic Control platform
- Raised approximately $9.3M in total funding across pre-seed and seed rounds
- Deployed HALO with British Airways, dnata, Aerocharter, Japan Airlines, and PrimeFlight
- Introduced spatial computing to airfield management via HALO on Apple Vision Pro
- Moonware won the 2025 Ground Handling Digital Innovation Award and a Gold Stevie Award for Technology Excellence

## Latest updates

- **2025-11** — Moonware won the Pride of Ground Handling Digital Innovation Award at the GHI Annual Conference
- **2025-07** — Announced expansion with Japan Airlines and JAL Ground Service testing at Tokyo Haneda
- **2024-12** — Unveiled HALO on Apple Vision Pro at GHI Barcelona, bringing spatial computing to airfield operations
- **2024-03** — Closed a $7M seed round led by Third Prime and Zero Infinity Partners

## Links

- Website: https://moonware.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javier-vidal/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/m00nware

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/javier-vidal
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-01