HyLight

Small unmanned hydrogen airships for long range monitoring

S23

Active

https://www.hylight.aero/

Small unmanned hydrogen airships for long range monitoring

HyLight builds and operates autonomous airships for long range monitoring. We focus on detecting methane leaks on pipelines and defects on power lines. Our innovation, the HyLighter, is a crossover between drone and airship technology. Like a drone, it is easily controllable and transportable. And, like an airship, it is extremely energy-efficient, enabling it to fly for up to 10 hours at slow speed (22mph) for optimal data collection which represents a range of 220miles. Today, energy infrastructure operators struggle with conducting inspections that are simultaneously: massive and precise. HyLight offers a solution to precisely detect issues on the infrastructure at an industrial scale, and all of this without emitting GHGs. We are 3 co-founders experienced in hardware and energy companies with Masters in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Business from the best Engineering and Business School in France. We have developed 5 different flying aircrafts and signed 5 pilots programs with major energy infrastructure operators. We also have LOIs worth over $3.5M.

Thomas Laporte, Founder

Co-founder & CBO at HyLight | My goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At HyLight, I do that by helping our clients replace a bad solution with a high carbon footprint by our great solution with zero carbon footprint. I support utilities in taking care of critical energy infrastructure and help them in detecting defects before the outage.

Thomas Laporte

HyLight

Martin Bocken, Founder

Co-founder & CEO of @HyLight. I'm a doer at heart, my engineering background helped me to launch several entrepreneurial projects. I devote my energy to creating and designing the innovations that will enable us to live in a low-carbon world tomorrow.

Martin Bocken

HyLight

Josef Rokusek, Founder

Co-founder & CTO of @HyLight. With a boundless passion for innovation and a commitment to sustainable solutions, I've dedicated my life to making a difference in the world. My journey began with a solid foundation in mechanical engineering and sustainable energy. This background provided me with the tools to turn my creative ideas into real-world innovations. My mission? Lead the change in reshaping society's approach to technology, making it environmentally friendly.

Josef Rokusek

HyLight

Company Launches

HyLight 🎈 Hydrogen airships for long range monitoring

See original launch post ›

Hello everyone, we are HyLight. We build small unmanned hydrogen airships to automatically gather massive amounts of precise data in a sustainable and cost-effective way.

🚫 The problem :

We currently focus on:

💨 Pipeline inspection to detect methane leaks (4% of global greenhouse gas emissions).
⚡Power line inspection to prevent outages, reduce wildfire risks ($19 billion per year in the US), and ensure grid reliability.

Current solutions (helicopters, airplanes, satellites and drones) are not adapted to make accurate, efficient and sustainable observations.

✅ Our solution :
Our solution is a crossover between drone and lighter than air technologies, using hydrogen as a lifting gas and power source.

This vehicle combines long range, high payload, and hovering capabilities

We have already built four prototypes, two minimum viable products (MVPs), and are running a paid pilot with the largest power line company in Europe.

🙏 Our ask: How you can help

🤝 Refer: If you know anyone that works in Oil&Gas or utilities please connect us (thomas@hylight.aero).
📣 Share: Share this post with your network.
🔔 Follow: Follow us on LinkedIn.

We are building the perfect airborne platform to better observe, understand, and improve our world.

Join us for the flight!

YC Sign Photo

YC S23 Demo Day Video