What happened at the Future Aero Festival 2025 was nothing short of groundbreaking.
No repeated panels. No slide-based lectures. Two full days of genuine insights, honest interviews and No-BS conversations. 150+ brilliant people, 40+ startups taking over the stage, and aviation leaders and decision-makers having the conversations the industry needed to have.

Nine pioneering aviation ventures from across Europe teamed up with our mentors at the ZAL TechCenter to dive into challenges, exchange ideas, and define clear steps toward accelerating the future of flight.
Across 10 hours of discussions, more than 60 participants created a vibrant hub of networking, fresh perspectives, and powerful insights.

Berlin-based Spark e-Fuels is pioneering the future of SAF production with its proprietary, demand-responsive, and scalable e-fuel technology. Spark e-Fuels met the Breakthrough Energy team as Mentors in our Mentorship Program! The Fellows program is a unique model helping transformative ideas move from the lab to real-world application.

Speeder Systems is building an electric ground-effect vehicle with the lowest operational costs per km·kg, and recently secured a grant from the Dutch Government. The team reached another major milestone last week by conducting its first ground-effect test in Den Helder, which was funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Muuv is developing extended-electric aircraft that combine battery-powered efficiency with a light-weight range extender. In September 2024, they joined Sustainable Aero Lab’s mentorship program and found their angel investor, an Aero Lab Mentor, Andreas Kupke.

MicroTau, a venture that participated in the Sustainable Aero Lab Mentoring Program, is developing a sharkskin-inspired Riblet Modification Package, which reduces drag by up to 4%. The team has secured Vueling Airlines as its first European airline customer.

Australia-based startup has developed and patented Aeroperm, a nanocrystalline magnetic material that replaces conventional electric steels in stator cores, enhancing the performance of electric motors and generators.

Hamburg-based startup Beagle Systems uses a network of long-range drones to provide on-demand, high-precision geodata - offering a faster, safer, and more cost-efficient alternative to traditional inspection methods.

Alpine Eagle is developing counter-drone technology, which is vital for strengthening the European defense industry during this crucial time.

A big congratulations to the founding team of Spark for securing funding. Berlin-based Spark e-Fuels is accelerating the transition to net-zero aviation by enabling cost-effective manufacturing, while driving broader industrial decarbonization.

Over the past two days, we’ve:
-Connected with inspiring industry experts and newcomers alike.
-Learned from exceptional speakers from Embraer, Boeing, RTX, Breakthrough Energy, JetZero and many more.
-Witnessed groundbreaking innovations from over 30 startups

After months of dedicated research and analysis, we're excited to unveil the grand finale of our Net-Zero Aviation content series with the launch of the Net-Zero Airline Ranking!
The Net-Zero Airline Ranking evaluates the genuine commitment of the world’s 20 largest airline groups to achieving a net-zero aviation future across five key metrics.

Have a look at our exclusive Lab Session hosted in Silicon Valley on April 24th. This time we brought together 10 sustainable aviation startups with accomplished mentors from renowned players like Breakthrough Energy , Honeywell Ventures, Embraer-X, Eviation Aircraft , Ampaire, GE Aerospace, JetBlue Ventures, and many more!

Our mentor Nico Buchholz has more than 30 years of international experience in the airline and aerospace industries.

He’s joined Moonware as an Advisory Board member & will support their journey towards developing a software & hardware ecosystem to automate airport ground operations.

We hosted our first Lab session with startups and mentors in the US - in the heart of Silicon Valley, at Stanford University!

More than 80 participants from numerous renowned investment companies, students, and several founders from graduated startups from our community joined the event.

Standard measures like fleet renewals, optimizing operational efficiencies & accelerating SAF adoption fall short of addressing industry’s carbon crisis. Our Net-Zero series delves into this, shedding light on airline leaders committing to real innovation.

The investment is co-led by Third Prime and Zero Infinity Partners, with participation from The House Found, Lorimer Ventures & strategic partners.

Moonware is developing a smart autonomous ecosystem for ground operations at airports. The collaboration with IAG introduces Moonware’s flagship product HALO, a Ground Traffic Control’s platform, at John F. Kennedy International Airport Terminal 8.

Sustainable Aero Lab is honored to announce an official partnership with Embraer-X, an Embraer incubator and market accelerator specialized in disruptive innovation, always connected and in partnership with the global innovation ecosystem. The company will join the Lab as an official partner, engaging in the initiative’s renowned mentorship program.

As electric & hydrogen alternatives are on the horizon, SAF is vital. Despite limited availability, Offtake Agreements show dedication to cleaner operations, securing SAF volumes.

FlyORO, a Singapore-based startup working in the SAF field, got the investment from Audacy Ventures, a venture capital firm dedicated to catalyzing and scaling technology solutions driving the energy transition.

Following our analysis of actual SAF contributions, we're now introducing a second pragmatic metric to rank airlines on their net-zero journey: the average fleet age.

TUM Venture Labs, a joint initiative of Technical University of Munich & UnternehmerTUM, and Sustainable Aero Lab joined forces to support startups working on the future of flight. Players will align their activities around companies working on sustainable products in the aviation.

Empowered by dynamic discussions, the mentorship spirit, and engaging sustainable aviation startups, we successfully concluded our last Lab Session in 2023! Reflect on the inspiring energy that fueled our day more precisely in the link above.

Dive deep into the industry's greenwashing tactics &  urgent need for real change. Get into a handful of charts, citing data that is overlooked by airline CEOs & industry figureheads.

Contrails are responsible for 1-2% of global warming. Yet, it is possible to cut most of this impact at near-zero cost.

Moonware, a California-based startup developing a cloud-based AI-powered software platform for fleet management, has successfully closed a $2.5 million pre-seed round led by early-stage VC firm Third Prime.

We invite you to experience the spirit of our latest in-person Lab Session at the Paris Air Show!
We brought together seven startups a group of highly accomplished mentors from around the world at the National Air and Space Museum of France!

The startup met with Taras at the Lab Session last year, and recently signed a partnership with his company, H3Dynamics, to revolutionize the aviation industry with hydrogen-electric propulsion systems!

Fuelled by the boundless collaborations, amazing spirit of the Paris Air Show and thoughtful discussions at the Large Room, we concluded the last Lab Session of the 3rd Year at the National Air and Space Museum of France.

The latest whitepaper by Sustainable Aero Lab demonstrates why aviation is about to greatly miss its sustainability targets & which measures could be implemented to decarbonize air travel faster.

For Smartflyer, Invero's involvement is a strong commitment to the electric aircraft concept: "The modular energy storage system can be changed from a hybrid to a battery-powered propulsion system in a few steps.", says CEO Rolf Stuber.

Together with the navel, aviation and aerospace technology experts, Speeder & Gradel signed an MoU at the Amsterdam Drone Week to create the future of sustainable drones.

Sustainable Aero Lab made history with its first in-person Lab Session, which was a milestone in the journey towards sustainable aviation. 11 ventures and 60+ participants were brought together to share challenges & discuss objectives.

Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) have become the hot topic in global aviation. A new market analysis by Sustainable Aero Lab shows the key players in the global ecosystem, as well as promising startups.

With climate change progressing, the measures that are currently planned by the aviation industry will be not enough. A new study maps 40 promising startups, clustering sustainable aviation in four technological fields: Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), Electric Propulsion, Hydrogen, and the Digital Backbone.

New program brings together global founders, researchers, experienced entrepreneurs, industry professionals and investors – to build the future of aviation.

The aviation industry has historically been the most innovative when facing crises. While global air travel is still severely challenged by the COVID19 pandemic, another game-changing crisis can already be outlined today: In the next decades, the effects of climate change will dramatically influence aviation and its business models. At the same time, this development poses a great opportunity for the aviation industry to regain a revolutionary state of mind, unlocking new fields of technology, business and cooperation.