2022 is shaping up to be a foundational year for REGENT.
We have secured new provisional orders for 71 seagliders this year, bringing our total count to 334, our customer count to 10, and our committed pre-delivery payments to $2.7M. We met with the U.S. Coast Guard headquarters engineering office which will be involved with approving our Design Basis Agreement later this year, and are underway with Bureau Veritas tracking towards a wing-in-ground classification Approval In Principle by the summer. Our technical demonstrator has hit the Tampa waters for testing, and the team continues to grow this year with continued emphasis on bringing in world-class technical talent. On April 20, I will be speaking at the future mobility conference, CoMotion Miami, stay tuned for an announcement at that event!
2022 Milestones
Now - Spring: Testing in Tampa
Spring: Customer Day
Early Summer: Approval In Principle for wing-in-ground classification with Bureau Veritas
Early Summer: Groundbreaking on new RI headquarters, first team members moving to RI
Summer: Series A
Fall: Design basis agreement with Coast Guard
Billy Thalheimer, REGENT Founder & CEO
Business Development
Our business development team is currently tracking 250+ opportunities which has resulted in two additional orders in the past 30 days. Total orders including firm deposits have a combined value of $6B across 334 vehicles (including Viceroy and Monarch seaglider models). Our team has grown to include 10 sales contractors all working dozens of opportunities around the world.
Commercial Highlights
Mesa Airlines: In February, one of North America's largest regional airlines that operates for American and United and based in Phoenix, Arizona announced it will purchase 100 Viceroys and 100 Monarchs in a total deal valued at $4B, to establish new city-to-city direct routes on the coasts. They also participated as a strategic investor in our December Mezzanine Round.
Southern Airways Express: The commuter airlines has entered into an agreement with firm deposits to add 20 seagliders: 15 Viceroys and 5 Monarchs. The transaction with firm deposits is valued at nearly $250M.
[To be disclosed regional transportation provider] We have grown our international footprint by signing a deal worth over $428M, that will be announced in April.
[To be disclosed shipping conglomerate] We have signed a deal for 25 Viceroys and 25 Monarchs with a shipping conglomerate that will be announced in the coming months.
Certification Update
We've completed our Viceroy craft-level requirements review, which establishes a baseline set of requirements for more detailed system designs and safety analyses. In the U.S. and internationally we've solidified our maritime certification path with confirmations that Type A Wing-in-Ground Effect (WIG) craft are not aircraft from the following agencies:
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
European Union Aviation Safety Administration (EASA)
France's Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGAC)
U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
We look forward to our continued conversations with U.S. and International Maritime regulators.
Team Growth
Since October we have more than doubled our workforce to 24 full-time employees. With this momentum, our team continues to grow as we focus on recruiting top engineering talent to bring the seaglider to life, and business leaders to help us meet our fundraising and commercialization goals. Some of our recent key hires include:
Adam Triolojoined us as Director of Commercial Business Development last year. Adam's career spans leadership of international aircraft sales teams and manning the controls of aircraft himself, as both a demonstration and commercial pilot.
Andrew Gaynor is our Principal Structures Engineer combining maritime and aerospace with experience in the composite yacht racing world of the America’s Cup, SpaceX, and Relatively Space. During his America's Cup experience, he was involved with 7 teams, including two world championships with Oracle Racing.
Julie Bride is a Structural Analysis Engineer who will be working on the development cycle from concept design and analysis through fabrication, integration, and test. Julie joins us from Northrop Grumman.
Dr. Tamas Kolos-Lakatos is our newHead of Data Analytics. Tamas worked at InterVISTAS Consulting as a Senior Aviation Consultant and has a Ph.D. from MIT in Air Transportation Systems and supports the business development with market study and route analysis.
Brad Buskirk, Senior Aerodynamics Engineer, is developing the seaglider aerodynamic platform, working with Bryan Baker to design and optimize their aerodynamic performance. Brad joins us from Aurora Flight Sciences and NASCAR.
David Larson joined us as a Performance Engineer and will be working on developing seaglider hydrodynamics. He brings broad experience with marine applications and ocean engineering, including a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT that focused on ocean wave-body interactions.
We are looking for smart, highly-motivated people to join us. If you or someone you know is interested in joining the world-class team we are building, check out our open positions.
