Bengaluru-headquartered deep-tech aviation start-up Alteon has reached a major milestone by successfully flying its autonomous aircraft just a metre above the sea.
This test validates the concept of dynamic soaring, a technique that could soon allow aircraft to harvest energy from the wind and fly continuously for months.
To speed up the creation of these ultra-long-endurance machines for maritime monitoring and defence operations, the company recently raised ₹24 crore ($2.5 million) in a pre-seed funding round.
During an offshore trial in early August 2026 over the Bay of Bengal, Alteon’s prototype autonomously executed seven consecutive O-shaped loops at speeds topping 100 kilometres per hour, maintaining an altitude of less than one metre.
This achievement highlights the practical use of dynamic soaring. Inspired by the flight patterns of the albatross, this method gathers energy from varying wind speeds by repeatedly dipping into slower air near the water and rising into faster air currents above.
By perfecting this flight pattern, Alteon plans to manufacture aircraft that can stay in the sky for over a year without traditional fuel or landing requirements.
The start-up was officially launched in 2025 by Samay Sanghvi, a 20-year-old self-taught engineer who began building radio-controlled models right after high school in 2023.
While he does not hold a formal engineering degree, Sanghvi has assembled a dedicated team of 20 professionals. Operating from a 10,000-square-foot facility, the team builds up to five test models weekly and has conducted over 200 flight tests in a single month.
The recent ₹24 crore investment was led by Lachy Groom, alongside the Together Fund, and follows earlier backing from Emergent Ventures and 1517.
Alteon intends to deploy large fleets of these autonomous aerial vehicles for continuous ocean surveillance.
These aircraft will be able to track illegal fishing, curb smuggling, monitor critical offshore infrastructure, and enhance national defence readiness at a significantly lower cost than satellites, large ships, or conventional crewed airplanes.
The fresh capital will be directed towards further research, improving the autonomous flight software, and preparing the technology for real-world deployment.
Alteon’s immediate upcoming goal is to demonstrate "energy-neutral dynamic soaring," a state where the aircraft flies entirely on wind energy with its propulsion systems turned off.
Sanghvi notes that achieving year-long endurance is a complex engineering challenge requiring high efficiency across the aircraft's physical structure and autonomous systems.
The current fixed-wing aircraft in development features a wingspan of roughly three metres.
In the future, the company plans to use the aircraft's propellers as wind turbines to generate electricity and recharge onboard batteries, further stretching flight times.
To put Alteon's ambitions in perspective, the current global record for the longest continuous flight is 67 days, set in 2025 by Airbus subsidiary AALTO with its Zephyr aircraft. Alteon aims to eventually beat this record by more than five times.
India's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry is growing rapidly. Valued at approximately ₹3,900 crore in 2025, the market is expected to expand to nearly ₹11,500 crore by 2030, fuelled by needs in defence, logistics, and surveillance.
Alteon’s breakthrough places it in a strong position within this sector. Beyond simply staying airborne, the start-up envisions a future where fleets of low-cost autonomous aircraft provide non-stop data on maritime borders and weather systems, revolutionising disaster management, scientific research, and defence operations.
