- Deepinder Goyal and Surobhi Das launched LAT Aerospace to develop low-cost STOL aircraft, with Goyal investing $20 million.
- The startup seeks $50 million to create 1,500 km range aircraft for regional air travel.
Billionaire Deepinder Goyal has partnered with Zomato's former COO, Surobhi Das, to launch an aerospace startup called LAT Aerospace. The startup, currently in stealth mode, plans to design and develop low-cost 12- to 24-seater Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) aircraft to connect smaller cities. Goyal has invested $20 million in the startup, taking on a non-executive role as an investor and mentor. Das will lead the company’s day-to-day operations.
LAT Aerospace is seeking to raise $50 million in a seed funding round to hire engineers in disciplines such as aerodynamics, material sciences, and hybrid propulsion systems. The Delhi-based startup will build aircraft with a range of up to 1,500 km. Das resigned from Zomato in November 2023 and has worked at Bain & Company.
"While building Zomato and traveling extensively, Deepinder Goyal and I often discussed how regional aviation should be effortless, affordable, and accessible. That’s what we’re now building at LAT. At LAT Aerospace, we’re rethinking the way we fly—designing low-cost 12 to 24-seater STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) aircraft designed to make cities, towns, and communities more connected than ever," Das posted in a LinkedIn.
"Our aircraft will take off and land from ultra-compact 'air-stops'—as small as a parking lot. Imagine dozens of air-stops across major cities, seamlessly linking them to hundreds of smaller cities without baggage belts, security bottlenecks, or expensive airport infrastructure—because regional air travel doesn’t need them," she wrote.
She added "We’re based in Delhi NCR and assembling a world-class team of engineers, designers, and builders to take on the toughest challenges in aircraft design, aerodynamics, materials & composites, hybrid propulsion systems, and turbo-machinery,". Sharing Das' post, Deepinder Goyal wrote, "Excited to bring a decade old idea to life, Surobhi Das Folks – Surobhi is looking for the founding engineering team for LAT, in the fields of aircraft design, aerodynamics, materials & composites, hybrid propulsion systems, and turbo-machinery."
