Pyka YC Application

Summer 2017Active

Pyka went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2017 batch as a Industrials company. Below: what the company does, who founded it, and its application to YC, reconstructed question by question in the real YC form.

YC batch: Summer 2017
Industry: IndustrialsAviation and Space
Team size: 75
Status: Active
Launched: 2017

Founders

Michael NorciaFounder/CEO
Nathan WhiteFounder/CEO
Kyle MooreFounder
Chuma OgunwoleFounder/COO

What Pyka does

Pyka’s goal is to provide society with a new form of safe, clean, and cost-effective transportation enabled by autonomous electric aviation. To get there, we’re taking a different approach than most. We're applying our technologies to every industry where autonomous electric aircraft can be useful, starting with the highest value and most dangerous jobs. In doing so, we're building game-changing products manufactured at scale, while perfecting the safety, reliability, and capabilities of our autonomy engine and electric propulsion systems. We design, develop and manufacture an ecosystem of technologies including proprietary flight control software, avionics, high power density motors, motor controllers, batteries, and custom carbon-fiber composite airframes. Today, we supply autonomous electric aircraft for cargo transport and crop protection to real-world customers across four separate continents and have secured industry-first regulatory approvals from the FAA. Our cargo aircraft enables remote connectivity, enhances express delivery networks, and ensures fast and reliable shipping of critical supplies to areas in need. Our crop protection aircraft offers agricultural services providers and farmers an autonomous tool to make aerial application safer, more precise, and less harmful to surrounding environments. Both vehicles are highly economical to operate, easy to deploy, and significantly reduce C02 emissions in their respective industries. What you work on at Pyka makes people’s lives better now and brings the future of electric aviation one step closer each day.

Pyka's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Pyka, Summer 2017 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Pyka

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Autonomous electric airplanes

What is your company going to make? Please describe your product and what it does or will do.

We build autonomous electric airplanes designed to perform high-value and dangerous jobs like cargo transport and crop protection. Our aircraft combine proprietary flight control software, avionics, electric propulsion, batteries, and composite airframes to deliver safer, cleaner, and more cost-effective aerial services. They're already used globally to move critical supplies and improve agricultural application precision, cutting emissions and reducing risk for operators.

Where do you live now, and where would the company be based after YC?

We live in Alameda, CA, and intend to keep the company based here after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

Alameda provides proximity to a strong aerospace ecosystem, skilled talent in electric aviation and autonomy, and access to regulatory authorities like the FAA to secure approvals, all vital to our development and manufacturing.

21 more answers in the full application

Founders, Progress, Idea, Equity, Curious, Batch Preference are in the full version. Create a free account to open it in YC Insights, next to every other YC batch.

See full application

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this the real Pyka YC application?

No. Y Combinator keeps submitted applications private. This is a reconstruction: the real YC form questions, answered from Pyka's public data (launch notes, founder backgrounds, product description). It shows how a company like Pyka would present itself to YC, not the text they submitted.