“First in flight” are the words seen on nearly every standard license plate in North Carolina, a nod to the Wright brothers’ infamous journey into the sky.
Wake Forest native Kevin King took these words to heart when he fell in love with the aviation field, and that same love ultimately prompted him to found Anatra—a startup focused on the development and manufacturing of autonomous, amphibious cargo drones.
King said one of the main goals of Anatra is to connect more people across the world through trade and commerce, along with offering viable options in emergency rescue situations. Seeing scenarios where their drones could offer life-saving resources, such as insulin or formula, has greatly motivated the team to keep working towards developing their final product.
“That’s been a North Star,” King said. “Knowing that we’re building something that is going to help.”
Currently, he said there are a lot of interesting companies building autonomous software, yet no one is building amphibious cargo drones. Anatra means duck in Italian and, like a duck, King said their drones will be able to work on land, in water and in the sky.
“The joke goes, ‘that’s why you want to choose to be a duck because it can walk, fly or float,’ and so, that’s us,” King said. “We can walk, fly and float.”
The initial intention behind creating amphibious drones was to bring about greater flexibility. Instead of searching for a runway at the end of each deployment, he said, the drones can land anywhere there is water.
The team’s biggest struggle is that a lot of capital is required to develop the hardware for the drones. King added that the aviation industry also has numerous regulations that can be difficult to navigate.
For Anatra, however, timing has often been favorable.
King said the aviation industry has lately emphasized a shift towards cleaner alternatives to existing solutions. With its hybrid fuel, electric engines, and goal of reducing carbon emissions, Anatra is ideally positioned to meet this new demand.
Putting together a top-notch, seven-person team has also eased some of King’s anxieties during the development process. He spent his first year in solo development, studying pilots, the maritime industry and aviation.
“It was just like a whole year of just deciding where to go, and that can be very scary, because it’s an unknown, and sometimes not having that control or that product was the scariest part,” King said.
Once he settled on the autonomous, amphibious cargo drone model and found a good team of consultants, however, King said nothing could hold Anatra back.
Anatra Moving Forward
The past year of development has involved creating models from scratch and running simulations to test out the different hardware elements. From determining flying capabilities to choosing the materials the drones are made out of, the team continues to tweak its model.
When a final design has been determined, King said they will build a bigger drone that will go through two years of certification with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Once maritime, shipping logistics, and airline service companies are able to purchase the drones, they will also have the option to buy a package that includes predictive maintenance software. This can help companies better estimate when drones may need repairs or maintenance – services Anatra plans to provide.
QUICK BITS
Startup: Anatra
Founder: Kevin King (CEO)
Founded: 2023
Location: Wake Forest, NC
Website: anatracompany.com
Funding: Raising pre-seed
Throughout the course of developing Anatra’s drones, King said the highlight has been seeing the vision start to play out.
“I joke I might even cry when I hold it because you’re like, ‘Oh, it’s real,’” he said.
King added his biggest goal for Anatra would be to develop a facility in Franklin County where they can produce the drones. He also has a 10-year vision of creating a tech hub in Wake Forest to become the leader in the amphibious cargo drone market and grow the autonomous space in general.
While Anatra is currently self-funded, King said the team is open to taking on investors. He also added they are always open to fun partnerships with other companies.
“Better together is what I’m all about and I think drones can really help people,” King said.
