VerdeGo Aero Advances in AFWERX Crowdsourcing Challenge

VerdeGo Aero is one of 11 companies selected out of 200 to advance in the HSVTOL Concept Challenge, a crowdsourcing effort for the U.S. Air Force's AFWERX innovation arm and U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).

According to officials of the hybrid-electric propulsion tech company, VerdeGo stands apart as the only finalist focused on applying hybrid-electric powerplant technology across multiple potential airframe customers.

"VerdeGo is already delivering hybrid powerplants for commercial flight test aircraft, and this is an exciting opportunity to leverage our expertise and make a new class of aircraft possible for supporting USSOCOM missions,” Eric Bartsch, CEO for VerdeGo Aero, said in a statement. 

During the first phase of the challenge, VerdeGo said it will work closely with the winning airframe bidders to further refine their propulsion system requirements. 

“The HSVTOL Concept Challenge has surfaced an impressive range and caliber of solutions to help us understand how to build a new class of air vehicles," Reid Melville, chief innovation officer of the Air Force Research Laboratory Transformational Capabilities Office, said in a statement. “We believe the organizations selected to receive market research investments at this stage have the potential to deliver truly groundbreaking innovation.”

VerdeGo Aero is headquartered at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Research Park. In addition to Bartsch, the company’s leadership includes chief technology officer Pat Anderson, who is director of Embry-Riddle’s Eagle Flight Research Center, and executive chair Erik Lindbergh, the grandson of famous aviator Charles A. Lindbergh.