US JetZero Secures $100 Million in Funding, First Flight of All-Wing Demonstrator Set for 2027
en.Wedoany.com Reported - JetZero announced on Monday that it has secured up to $100 million in new funding to advance the construction of its full-scale demonstrator, Jet1, and related manufacturing efforts. Jet1, being built by Scaled Composites in Mojave, California, will serve as JetZero's manned test aircraft for its all-wing configuration.
Prior to the full-scale demonstrator, JetZero's Pathfinder flight test program has completed over 30 flights, testing five generations of scaled aircraft. The company stated that this program was used to develop and validate the configuration design and flight control laws planned for application to the Jet1.
Jet1 will serve the development of the Z4 aircraft model. According to JetZero, the Z4 can carry approximately 250 passengers with a range of 5,000 nautical miles. In June of this year, the company broke ground on an 8-million-square-foot manufacturing campus in Greensboro, North Carolina, where the Z4 is planned to be produced.
JetZero claims that the all-wing configuration can reduce fuel consumption by up to 50% compared to conventional tube-and-wing aircraft of equivalent capacity.
The new funding takes the form of a loan agreement (credit facility), enabling JetZero to access up to $100 million from Pinegrove Credit Partners and Silicon Valley Bank. The funds will be used to support the construction and technical development of the Jet1, as well as tooling and production infrastructure at the Greensboro manufacturing campus.
Tom O'Leary, CEO and co-founder of JetZero, stated in the announcement that the credit facility is designed to accelerate project momentum, funding tooling and production facilities in North Carolina to drive aerospace innovation and promote American reindustrialization, with the Z4 leading this effort. JetZero plans to achieve the first flight of the Jet1 in the fourth quarter of 2027 and commence commercial operations of the Z4 in the early 2030s.
