MAKO Raises $20 Mn in Series A Round led by Virescent Ventures

The new funding will be used to increase Flightfilm production, fulfil pre-orders from commercial airlines and defence customers, and expand the company's manufacturing capabilities. It will also help speed up the certification process so the product can be used in major aviation markets.

The funding round was led by Virescent Ventures, with participation from International Airlines Group (IAG) through IAGi Ventures, Zero Infinity Partners, Grok Ventures, Skip Capital, IP Group and TreeArc. These investors support technologies that improve aviation efficiency and reduce environmental impact.

MAKO CEO Henry Bilinsky said, “We are proud to have Virescent Ventures lead our Series A. Their team has backed us since our seed round and have been excellent partners. They understand the significance of our vision to make surfaces that replace the need for a new aircraft.

“It is exciting to have IAGi Ventures as a key strategic investor representing one of the largest airline groups in the world. As we complete product certification, MAKO will be leveraging its expertise from ground operations to airworthiness to ensure Flightfilm meets all airline customer needs.

“The coalition of Virescent Ventures, the CEFC, IAGi, Grok Ventures, IP Group, Zero Infinity Partners, TreeArc, and Skip Capital represents deep experience in backing deep tech, climate tech, and aviation tech companies solving hard problems at scale. Their investment represents not only conviction in MAKO and our technology, but a recognition of our mission: making aviation more efficient, not someday, but for the fleet flying today."

Blair Pritchard, Partner at Virescent Ventures, said: "Like its namesake, MAKO is fast moving and ready to scale. We have a lot of conviction in this team having backed them across four rounds of investment since 2022. MAKO meaningfully improves the efficiency of aircraft already in service. It's incredibly gratifying to see them winning contracts around the world with civilian and allied military aviation customers. We think this has the potential to be the biggest Australian aviation story since Qantas.”

Raza Ali, Managing Partner of IAGi Ventures, said: “Investments from our Ventures arm play a key role in IAG’s transformation programme, and we focus on companies with the ambition and potential to truly transform aviation. We have been hugely impressed by the approach of the MAKO team and the progress made in their trials of Flightfilm. IAG is planning to test the technology later this year with one of our airlines, with the potential to scale across others. We believe it can improve efficiency and deliver both substantial cost efficiencies and emission reductions, while aligning with our innovation mission to transform aviation by testing and scaling high-impact emerging technologies.”

Founded in 2015 by Henry Bilinsky, MAKO is an Australian aerospace technology company that develops solutions to make aircraft more fuel-efficient. Its main product, Flightfilm, is inspired by shark skin and helps reduce air resistance, allowing aircraft to use less fuel and produce fewer carbon emissions.

The company works with commercial airlines and defence customers around the world to improve the efficiency of existing aircraft without making major changes to them.

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