Reliable Robotics adds $115M, lifting Series D to $275M and value above $1B

Reliable Robotics said on Oct 20 that it has raised $115 million in new capital, upsizing the $160 million Series D it announced earlier this year to $275 million and pushing its valuation above $1 billion. The Mountain View, California company, which builds an autonomy system for existing aircraft rather than a new aircraft, said in a press release that investor demand drove the extension. It did not give an exact valuation.

The headline number needs one adjustment. The $115 million includes a $25 million term loan from Silicon Valley Bank, so the new equity in the extension is $90 million. The company said it has now raised more than $380 million in equity since it was founded.

Who wrote the cheques

Nimble Partners, an existing investor, led the round. New investors are Gideon Capital, RockCreek, Geek Ventures, Gold Hill Capital and Sparkwave Capital, and returning investor Island Green Partners took part again. Allen & Company advised Reliable on the raise. The money, the company said, goes to more aircraft in its fleet, larger production facilities and a fast expansion of its engineering team, which passed 250 people. Reliable is also opening offices in Seattle, where it plans a centre of excellence for its radar programme, and San Diego, adding to Mountain View, San Martin and Albuquerque.

What the system actually does

The Reliable Autonomy System (RAS) is designed to taxi, take off, fly a planned route and land a conventional aircraft automatically, using airports and air traffic infrastructure as they are today. The company pairs it with its own radar and says the combination targets two leading causes of aviation accidents, loss of control and controlled flight into terrain. Certification is the business: Reliable is working with the FAA to certify RAS on the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, a single-engine turboprop widely used for regional cargo, and says it holds the only FAA-accepted certification plan, means of compliance and closed issue papers for continuous autopilot engagement. That claim is the company's own and the FAA has not issued a type certificate yet.

The defence side is already paying. Reliable said it has contracts with several branches of the U.S. military and has completed several airworthiness reviews with the U.S. Air Force. Its selection for the FAA's Advanced Air Mobility Integration Pilot Program lets it fly pre-certification cargo operations to small and rural communities in New Mexico and Colorado.

How the round ranks

In MEKAWIRE's database Reliable's extension is the fourth-largest robotics financing of $50 million or more in the past four weeks, behind General Intuition, ICON and SiMa.ai. Measured against the closest autonomy-for-aircraft peer we track, the gap is wide: [Shield AI](/companies/shield-ai) raised a $1.5 billion Series G at a disclosed $12.7 billion post-money valuation in March, more than twelve times Reliable's stated floor of $1 billion. Method: Shield AI post-money divided by Reliable's minimum valuation; both as disclosed.