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Deepinder Goyal, co-founder of the food delivery platform Zomato, is now eyeing the regional air travel segment with a new aviation startup — LAT Aerospace. In a post on the social networking platform LinkedIn, co-founder Surobhi Das said the duo plans to make regional air travel more affordable and accessible.
“While building Zomato and flying across India, Deepinder and I kept circling back to the same question: Why is regional air travel still so broken — expensive, infrequent, and mostly out of reach unless you live in a metro?” Das, who was earlier associated with Zomato, wrote in the post.
According to media reports, the startup has raised $50 million, of which $20 million is from Goyal.
While Goyal has managed to create a new segment in food delivery, how successful he will be in aviation remains to be seen.
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Das highlighted that the country’s aviation potential is not fully utilised. “India has more than 450 airstrips — but only nearly 150 see commercial flights. That means nearly two-thirds of our aviation potential is being wasted. Meanwhile, millions in Tier-II and Tier-III cities spend hours — sometimes days — travelling by road or rail.”
As for operations, Das said the “buses in the sky” will connect places that have been overlooked so far. The company is building 12–24 seater STOL (short take-off and landing) aircraft. “Our aircraft will take off and land in compact ‘air-stops’ — no bigger than a parking lot — built closer to where people actually live,” Das said in an earlier LinkedIn post.
The startup is now seeking to grow its team and has issued a call for aerospace engineers, systems designers, and aviation enthusiasts to come aboard.
According to data from market intelligence platform Tracxn, while Das is the co-founder, Richard Mahn is the chief executive officer of the company.
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 "Startups, Indian startups")
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