Y Combinator is likely the only Californian VC most people outside of California have heard of and one dear to my own heart, having once been under its purview. Best known for backing any number of household names in the digital arena, of late it's been branching out into the physical: first in support of electrical surface-effect and second cargo drones in the shape of Regent and Mayman respectively. They're both in the US, but we mean to get YC to spread their wings farther afield, don't we?
Surface-effect craft or WIGs are something I've been interested in since before the legendary Janes naval directories dedicated one such wholly thereto, viz. Surface Skimmers. Both the directory and indeed the craft died a death until such time that the practicality of electrical motors has endowed them with such an allure that they are among the most successful forms of venture capital outside of flying taxis.
(The picture however is an electrically-powered Norwegian seaplane, me reviewing Regent's efforts elsewhere among these posts. But you get the picture ~ water and electricity appearing to mix after all.)
The jet-powered cargo-lifter has attracted the interest of the US military meanwhile, for though turbines are decidedly thirsty at low-level they are also decidedly fast at that level too. What's interesting about it from my own point of view is its refreshing disregard for redundancy ~ losing one engine having an effect much the same as a leg falling off the kitchen stool.
In warfare (an outdated concept also being re-visited by UK public opinion, were the press to be believed), having a drone drop occasionally is a lesser hazard than being shot at.
