.png)
January 11, 2024 — SINGAPORE/AUSTRALIA — Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) startup FlyORO successfully closed a Pre-Series A round, securing USD 1.6 million. The round is led by Audacy Ventures, a venture capital firm dedicated to catalyzing and scaling technology solutions driving the energy transition. The round also included participation from Asia-Pacific based VC Investible and other private investors, who are also advocates in the field of sustainable innovations.
Audacy Ventures has already made a number of strategic investments in the SAF industry, including a collaborative venture with Qantas, Airbus and LanzaJet, aimed at propelling the Australian market in the SAF sector. The addition of FlyORO to their portfolio further enhances the strength of their devotion towards developing the SAF value chain, reinforcing their dedication to fostering the SAF market growth.
SAF is estimated to contribute 65% of aviation’s emissions reduction goal, equivalent to approximately 450 billion litres of SAF adoption annually by 2050. The lower carbon intensity of SAF has garnered commitments for adoption from major global airlines, reflecting an environment ripe for transformative shifts and an expected increase in demand for FlyORO’s technology.
Toby Chan, Co-Founder and Partner of Audacy Ventures commented:
“SAFs play an essential role in our global efforts to decarbonize the aviation industry. Audacy is excited to back the FlyORO team to be an innovative enabler to the SAF supply chain and assist in scaling their modular on-demand blending solution internationally.”
The proceeds from the pre-Series A round will be instrumental in accelerating ongoing projects and supporting FlyORO’s international expansion efforts. The initial focus will be on strategic initiatives in both the Australian and United States markets.
The Australian market is gaining momentum in the development of SAF, leveraging its abundant feedstock resources and skilled workforce. The country’s optimistic outlook includes establishing a local SAF production facility to supply carriers within the region. Recognizing the growing opportunity, FlyORO is committed to supporting this movement.
In the United States, strong incentives for sustainable aviation have positioned the nation as a leader, fostering innovative developments across various SAF technological pathways, driven by favourable legislations. With the highest number of airport distributions and private aircraft ownership globally, FlyORO aims to initiate on early developments in the country throughout 2024.
Ben Lindsay, Investment Manager at Investible commented:
“FlyORO represents an exciting and unique opportunity to reduce the climate impact of a critical sector. Although SAF is expensive, the demand is growing rapidly. While producers and refiners continue their great work towards reducing the cost of SAF, we firmly believe in FlyORO’s ability to enable airlines and airports to adopt SAF sooner and work towards their emission reduction goals through FlyORO's AlphaLite blending technology.”
Following the successful launch of FlyORO's revolutionary modular SAF blending technology, the AlphaLite, in collaboration with Jet Aviation in April 2023, FlyORO remains dedicated to reducing aviation emissions globally. The company is strategically expanding, establishing new bases to seamlessly integrate into the jet fuel supply chain. FlyORO envisions the AlphaLite as a catalyst, making the adoption of SAF more accessible for all flyers.
Jonathan Yeo, FlyORO’s CEO, reflects, “2023 has been a pivotal year for us. We launched with Jet Aviation as our SAF partner for our Singapore market in April, and in just 7 months, we are going beyond our borders, much earlier than we expected.” Yeo further adds, “Through our fundraising journey, we have been extremely meticulous in partnering with the appropriate strategic stakeholders, and we’re proud to have Audacy Ventures and Investible to join us in our pre-series A round”.
FlyORO's modular SAF blending technology, AlphaLite, offers flexibility and control to flyers. The technology is backed by the company's proprietary programming technology which receives a regular software update once every 6 months to increase the efficiency of its operations. The data contributes to pushing industry limits and raising the blend ratios to commercial scale, hoping to help surpass the current 50% SAF blend limit. FlyORO’s AlphaLite empowers aircraft operators to make better informed decisions regarding SAF adoption, considering factors from cost parity to feedstock quality.
Looking ahead, FlyORO plans to commence the next financing round in the second half of 2024, continuing its trajectory of innovation and commitment to sustainable aviation practices.
Media Contact:
Genevieve Toh
FlyORO
Telephone: +65 9769 8751
Email: Genevieve.toh@flyoro.co
Note to Editors:
FlyORO
FlyORO provides the world's first revolutionary, modular, on-demand blending service of SAF and jet fuel to enable aviation on its emissions reduction journey. As an enabler to the SAF supply chain, we enable flyers the flexibility to align their ESG targets per flight rather than be succumbed to fixed blend ratios and bulk commitments upfront. With a small form factor of 40ft, it is space efficient and portable and can be installed anywhere at or off airport base. This solution allows airport fuel operators to serve flyers more effectively with a simplified supply chain.
To learn more visit: https://www.flyoro.co
Audacy Ventures
Audacy Ventures is dedicated to backing early-stage climate tech companies. Founded in 2017 by a team of experienced energy and investment professionals, the firm primarily focuses on three verticals: electrification and energy storage, transport and mobility, and carbon removal and utilization. To date, Audacy has invested globally into 13 companies along these verticals, including in the SAF industry, point source carbon capture and utilization, as well as hydrogen mobility and infrastructure.
To learn more visit: https://audacyventures.com
Investible
Investible is an Asia-Pacific-based early-stage venture capital firm backing the visionaries advancing humanity through technology. Its mission is to connect ground-breaking companies with the capital, expertise and networks they need to realise their potential on a global scale. Founded in 2014 and with offices in Sydney and Singapore, its unique approach to early-stage tech investment globally sees its cross-sector and climate tech VC Funds co-investing alongside members of Club Investible, an active, global investor syndicate and community. The Investible portfolio includes more than 140 early-stage companies across 12 countries and 20 sectors including Canva, Ipsy, Car Next Door, Quantum Brilliance, Eden Farm, Applied EV and more.
To learn more visit: https://investible.com