Congratulations to all of our innovators and teams for completing Phase II of the GoFly challenge! We were incredibly impressed with the technical prowess and creativity of the entries—in fact, we received so many stellar high quality entries that we have added an extra prize, and will now be awarding 5 Phase II Teams with prizes. Each of these teams will receive $50,000 in prizes.
The GoFly community is comprised of more than 3,500 innovators from 101 countries across the globe. Of these innovators, 31 Phase II Teams across 16 countries submitted entries for review by a panel of experts across 2 rounds of rigorous judging. These Phase II teams were required to submit visual and written documentation detailing their personal flyer prototypes. It’s the first time physical prototypes were introduced into the challenge, and this crucial step has brought us ever closer to the Final Fly-Off.
Join us in congratulating our winning teams on their achievements and in thanking our partners and sponsors for their support of the GoFly Prize and our innovators. Major partners include Grand Sponsor Boeing, Corporate Sponsor Pratt & Whitney, and over twenty other major aviation and innovation organizations that offer resources to our competitors and participate in our Masters and Mentors program.
And now, without further ado, meet our Phase II winners (in alphabetical order):
Latvia and Russia
The ERA Aviabike is a tilt-rotor aerial vehicle type that combines the VTOL capabilities of a helicopter with the range and speed of fixed-wing aircraft. ERA Aviabike is a flying bike.
United States
The Airboard 2.0 is a multicopter for human flight.
Netherlands
The SI is a canard-wing configuration around a person in motorcycle-like orientation powered by two electric motors with ducted rotors. The aircraft makes a 90-degree transition from vertical take-off to horizontal cruise flight.
United States
The Aria is a high-TRL compact rotorcraft designed to minimize noise and maximize efficiency, safety, reliability, and flight experience.
United States
The FlyKart2 is an electric, single-seat, multi-rotor, ducted-fan, VTOL aircraft designed to be inexpensive to build, own, and operate.
Congratulations to all of our Innovators and Teams on completing the submissions for Phase II of the GoFly Prize, sponsored by Boeing! Almost 300 Innovators from 40 Teams across 16 countries registered for Phase II. Of those, 31 Teams submitted entries. The technical prowess and enthusiasm to change the world are evident in the entries; our team looks forward to reviewing all of the submissions in greater detail in the coming weeks. This exciting moment marks the next step in our collective mission to revolutionize flight, transportation, and the world as we know it!
On March 26, GoFly will announce the Phase II winners and award $50,000 USD to up to four winning teams. What shape will our four winning designs take? We are as eager to find out as you are!
As we look forward to the months ahead, our Final Fly-Off event will be the culmination of the GoFly Prize and the realization of our shared dream of flight. We can’t wait to welcome all Innovators who meet the Fly-Off requirements to debut their personal flyers — and to make history. Four prizes will be awarded at the Final Fly-Off, including a $250,000 prize for the quietest compliant device, a $250,000 prize for the smallest compliant device, the $100,000 Pratt & Whitney Disruptor Award, and, of course, the $1,000,000 Grand Prize.
There is still a lot of time until the Fly-Off—and you can join us now.
There are three important points to note:
1. New Teams:
New Teams can still join the competition and participate in the Final Fly-Off. The competition is still completely open to any and all around the world who want to compete for the almost $2,000,000 in prizes still to be won. All teams that wish to join the competition should contact us to begin the registration process at phase3@goflyprize.com.
Teams do not need to have won a previous round’s prize—or even to have participated in a previous round—to win the Final Fly Off Prizes.
2. Phase I Teams:
Phase I Teams may also continue in the competition. You do not need to have participated in Phase II in order to register now and compete in Phase III and the Final Fly-Off. All teams that wish to participate in Phase III should reach out to us at phase3@goflyprize.com.
3. Phase II Teams:
You have already completed all paperwork necessary to register and continue on to Phase III, so you can focus on building and flying your revolutionary creations! Yes, that’s right—all Phase II Teams can continue onto Phase III without any additional registration documents. Of course, Teams will still need to meet all GoFly Rules and Final Fly-Off requirements to compete.
Stay tuned for more updates—and should you have any questions, please reach out to us at phase3@goflyprize.com.
Ready. Set. GoFly!
Because we know that fundraising is hard—and sometimes you don’t know where to start or who might be interested in meeting with you—GoFly has been actively engaged with VCs and Investment Firms to pave the way for our Phase II Teams to raise money to fund your flying devices.
GoFly has prepared a list of Investors interested in speaking to, meeting with, and potentially funding GoFly Teams. All Investors on this list have had discussions with GoFly and are fully knowledgeable about the competition—and they have asked to be placed on this list so that our GoFly Teams can reach out to them as potential funding partners. While there is no guarantee of funding, the investors listed are interesting in speaking with and learning more about GoFly teams, and all have the ability to fund teams.
This list contains the names of seasoned professionals, so before you reach out, we encourage you to have your presentation and your pitch deck prepared.
To help you prepare for conversations with potential investors, GoFly offers Master Lectures on topics such as funding and raising capital, which can be accessed in the Documents section of the Phase I website as well as the Lectures tab of the Phase II website. Additionally, GoFly can also provide your team with a Mentor to help during the fundraising process. If you would like to request a technical or business Mentor, please complete this form. Please note, mentors are paired with mentees on a first come, first served basis.
With various ways to raise funds, this list is a good starting point for traditional VC funding. Should you decide to pursue other forms of fundraising, GoFly can also assist you with Sponsorships and/or Crowdfunding.
For any specific questions or to schedule a conference call with us, please reach out to us at info@goflyproze.com or phase2@goflyprize.com. We are here to help you!
