Proof before programme capital
We raise in steps. The current round funds a flying sub-scale demonstrator, the certification pre-application, and supplier quotations for the full-size aircraft. Programme capital comes later, released against certification gates.
Concept design complete. Pre-certification, pre-production.
What exists today?
- Wanderer hybrid-electric v1 concept design (September 2026): configuration, mass breakdown, power balance, sizing model.
- Concept drawings from 2019 (revision 3) and a full-size envelope that was built and inflated in the team hangar.
- A chief engineer with more than 80 sub-scale airships built and 20 flown since 2012, including a test article kept aloft for more than 365 days in a hangar endurance test in Eskişehir.
- The Kuzgun heritage: a patented modular concept (2011) with two flown prototypes.
- A certification path mapped to Türkiye’s SHT-21 and the published EASA special conditions for gas airships and hybrid propulsion.
- A financial model with a planning case and a success case, both published in the overview.
Wanderer and Kuzgun
One hull family, two missions. Wanderer is the passenger version for scenic flight and the vehicle this round is about. Kuzgun is the persistent unmanned version for surveillance and disaster response; its 2011 patent and two flown prototypes are part of the team’s evidence, not a separate fundraise.
What does this round achieve?
- A sub-scale Wanderer demonstrator, built and flown, with the flight filmed.
- The certification pre-application with SHGM, with certification counsel.
- Supplier quotations for the largest cost lines: generator set, envelope fabric, avionics, cabin.
- Letters of intent with operators and hotels in Cappadocia.
- Twelve months of company operations.
How will progress be judged?
- By month 3: at least three signed letters of intent; national R&D grant applications filed; top cost lines re-quoted.
- By month 9: the sub-scale demonstrator has flown and the flight is on film.
- By month 12: a written position from SHGM on the certification path, and the seed-round materials ready.
- We also publish the conditions under which we would stop: no flying demonstrator by month 12; fewer than three letters of intent; regulator feedback showing no path to revenue operations within about three years; or a post-demonstrator vehicle cost above about US$4 million with no credible way down.
Use of funds
From the pre-seed overview, at the midpoint of the range: about 40 percent for the sub-scale demonstrator, 15 percent for engineering and supplier re-quotes, 12 percent for the certification pre-application and counsel, 8 percent for film and data room, 8 percent for operator outreach in Cappadocia, 12 percent for company operations, 5 percent reserve.
Certification path and where we stand with the authority
Türkiye is the state of design and registry, so the type certificate comes from SHGM under SHT-21, which follows EASA Part 21. The design basis is the published EASA special condition for gas airships with the electric and hybrid propulsion condition on top. We have not yet applied for anything; the pre-application is being prepared and is a milestone of this round. Nothing on this site should be read as an approval.
Certification: what is a design basis, what is planned, what is approved
Market and revenue model
Revenue is per seat on scenic flights, priced by season, with hull advertising and aerial work as secondary income before and alongside passenger flights. Cappadocia sells roughly 770,000 balloon seats a year at dawn only; Wanderer is planned to fly through the day. Passenger numbers, prices and occupancy assumptions are in the financial report, available on request.
Why Cappadocia?
- Cappadocia is the largest hot-air balloon market in the world by passenger volume: roughly 770,000 balloon passengers in 2024 on about 220 flyable days.
- Balloons fly only at dawn and the number of balloons is capped by regulation, so demand is supply-limited.
- An airship can fly through the day and in more weather. Zeppelin NT in Germany sells scenic flights at EUR 240 to 1,190 per seat, which shows that passengers pay for cabin airship flights.
- The same site serves as the certification proving ground: one authority, one airspace, one operator.
Why this team?
- Airline flight dynamics, aircraft maintenance and certification, energy and gas systems, embedded software, and more than a decade of hands-on sub-scale airship building, flying and endurance testing.
Key risks
- Certification timeline: no passenger airship has been type-certificated in Türkiye before; the model prices a management-target case and a slower planning case.
- Vehicle cost: the bill of materials is built from quotes and estimates that are still being confirmed; the generator set and fuel system are assumptions until supplier quotations arrive.
- Weather and ground handling: an airship is limited by surface wind for mooring, so flown days will be fewer than scheduled days.
- Helium price and supply.
Documents
Pre-seed round: US$250,000 to 500,000, as set out in the overview. Use of funds and stop conditions are on the same page.