Building the "Wuling Hongguang" in the sky, "Weizhi Aviation", a R & D and manufacturing company of cargo drones, has completed a nearly 100 million yuan Pre-A round of financing | First reported by 36Kr
Text | Liu Jingqiong
Editor | A Zhi
Cover Source | Provided by the enterprise
36Kr learned that Weizhi Aviation Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Weizhi Aviation"), a developer and manufacturer of large general unmanned transport aircraft, announced the completion of a nearly 100 million yuan Pre-A round of financing. The round was jointly led by Liangxi Science and Technology Innovation Industry Fund and China Merchants Capital, with existing shareholder GSR Ventures continuing to participate. The funds raised will be used to strengthen the capabilities of the R & D headquarters and the final assembly production base, conduct various tests on the experimental prototype, and recruit more team members. Wave Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this round.
Weizhi Aviation was founded in October 2020 and focuses on the R & D and manufacturing of large general unmanned transport aircraft that combine "reliability, practicality, and economy." Xu Chun, the founder and general manager, once served as the deputy general manager of operations at a drone unicorn enterprise and has over 10 years of experience in the operation and management of listed companies. He is a serial entrepreneur, and the core members of his team all have 10 to 20 years of R & D and engineering experience in industries such as aviation, drones, automobiles, and satellite communications.
Xu Chun introduced that for the regional air cargo market, the company has launched its first - generation product, the Macro Cloud Bear, which is positioned as the "Wuling Hongguang in the low - altitude economy field."
It is reported that the Macro Cloud Bear is the first large - scale unmanned transport aircraft in China to complete full - autonomous forward design, development, and test flights. It completed its first flight test in April 2023, and in August 2024, it completed the upgrade of the avionics system and the optimization of the airframe structure, successfully passing ground and air tests. This model has the advantages of self - developed flight control and a full - system dual redundant design. It uses a fuel - powered system, with a maximum take - off weight of 1.5 tons, a cabin volume of 5m³, and can accommodate two GJB1918A - 2015 standard pallets. The standard cargo loading weight is 500 kilograms, and the full - load range is 500 kilometers. The performance version has a maximum service ceiling of 7000 meters. Currently, the Macro Cloud Bear has completed the self - developed flight control test and the production of the experimental prototype, and is promoting large - scale whole - machine testing and airworthiness certification work.
Product image of the Macro Cloud Bear
Aiming at the regional air cargo market, providing a more "cost - effective" option
Air cargo can usually be divided into three markets according to routes and distances: trunk (between core cities) cargo, cargo between special cities, and regional (between non - core cities) cargo. The trunk (over 1200 kilometers) cargo market has developed very maturely. In the manned trunk cargo market, state - owned enterprises and traditional airlines such as Airbus, Boeing, and Comac dominate. Even if the market switches to unmanned trunk cargo, these enterprises can easily outcompete startups. In the non - trunk cargo market between some special cities, the relevant routes overlap with those of trunk cargo aircraft. In the overseas market, larger general aviation aircraft such as Cessna dominate, while in the Chinese market, due to different population densities and basic conditions, railways and highways are the main means of transportation.
The regional unmanned cargo market targeted by Weizhi Aviation is still in the early exploration stage, and state - owned enterprises and traditional airlines have not yet entered the market on a large scale. However, the future demand is large. Xu Chun conservatively estimates that the market scale of medium - and large - sized drones for cargo transportation will reach 10,000 to 20,000 units in the future, leaving a large room for growth.
Facing the existing players in the domestic regional cargo market, Xu Chun believes that Weizhi Aviation's competitiveness mainly lies in product definition, cost control, the autonomy and controllability of core technologies, and the flexibility of application models. "Compared with some large enterprises, scientific research institutions, or units with local government backgrounds, private enterprises have more comprehensive advantages in product design, technology iteration, supply chain maturity, and cost control of production processes. Our products can achieve the highest cost - performance ratio and the lowest cost in the industry."
Based on the principle of forward R & D, Weizhi Aviation has successfully integrated the mature domestic automotive - grade, drone, and traditional aviation supply chain systems, enabling the Macro Cloud Bear to significantly reduce costs when competitors generally launch cargo drones worth tens of millions of yuan or more.
It is reported that the cost of the Macro Cloud Bear is only 1/5 of that of its competitors, and the cost - effectiveness ratio is 3.3 yuan/ton - kilometer.
When talking about the path to achieving cost - effectiveness, Xu Chun summarized three reasons: First, in the product design stage, the team fully considered customer needs while taking into account the maturity of the supply chain. For large aircraft, once there are problems in the design stage, it may be difficult to adjust in subsequent links. The maximum take - off weight of the Macro Cloud Bear is designed to be 1.5 tons, which is the result of the team's dual considerations of the market and technology. During the product planning stage, Xu Chun and his team predicted that the performance and cost of domestic engines are expected to be comparable to those of imported products in the next few years. However, at present, due to the high cost and the lack of a long - term testing and verification process, engines with higher power are difficult to be widely used in the short term. Therefore, Weizhi Aviation set its goal on a more practical 1.5 - ton design to ensure the economy and competitiveness of the product.
Second, the redundant flight control system, the core of the product, is independently developed and controllable by the Weizhi Aviation team. If the flight control system of a large - scale drone is not self - developed, there will be a large number of risk points that cannot be eliminated and unclear responsibilities during the R & D process, and there will also be many new cost overlays in subsequent iterations and updates.
Third, the team has rich product engineering experience and is familiar with the key information such as the technological process, key points, and working hours of the entire supply chain. The addition of members with an automotive industry background has enabled Weizhi Aviation to successfully integrate the general aviation and automotive industry supply chains, further reducing the BOM cost.
"Economical, sturdy, and durable" are Weizhi Aviation's expectations for the Macro Cloud Bear. On the basis of significantly reducing costs, Weizhi Aviation has not lowered the standards for product reliability and practicality. According to Xu Chun, the Macro Cloud Bear is currently the only unmanned transport aircraft product in the market that uses a full - system dual redundant design, with high reliability. In terms of practicality, the Macro Cloud Bear can take off and land within 400 meters (applicable to 100% of general aviation airports) and can also take off and land emergently on non - paved roads such as secondary roads, grasslands, and gravel roads, with strong take - off and landing adaptability.
Has received letter of intent orders and is expected to achieve small - batch delivery within the year
Since its establishment, Weizhi Aviation has mainly focused on the R & D and manufacturing of the 500 - kilometer - range and 500 - kilogram - payload unmanned transport aircraft (Macro Cloud Bear). The letter of intent orders received for the Macro Cloud Bear have already pre - occupied the factory's production capacity for the next 2 - 3 years.
It is reported that the potential customers of the Macro Cloud Bear are mainly civilian and can be divided into two categories: The first category is express delivery and logistics companies. These customers are sensitive to costs and value large space, durability, and low purchase costs when selecting aircraft models. They want to try a plane similar to the Wuling Hongguang in the regional air market to start their business, which is in line with the characteristics of Weizhi Aviation's products. The second category is customers with secondary modification needs. The space, load - carrying capacity, and flexible deployment capabilities of the Macro Cloud Bear make it suitable for modification into large - scale drones for emergency rescue, forest fire protection, and agricultural and forestry plant protection. In addition, general unmanned transport aircraft also have broad military applications in logistics support.
As the product and market mature, on the basis of meeting the delivery needs of domestic customers, the Weizhi Aviation team also plans to expand overseas at an appropriate time. In fact, during the early product design stage, the technical team designed the cabin to meet the storage requirements of standardized pallets in at least ten countries and regions such as the United States, Europe, and Japan, making it internationally compatible.
In Xu Chun's plan, Weizhi Aviation will adopt a three - generation product route of "mass production - under R & D - pre - R & D." As the first - generation 500 - kilometer - range and 500 - kilogram - payload unmanned transport aircraft is gradually improved, the second - generation 1000 - kilometer - range and 1000 - kilogram - payload unmanned transport aircraft, the multi - purpose modified version of the 500 - kilometer - range and 500 - kilogram - payload aircraft, and the third - generation new - energy large - payload unmanned transport aircraft have also been put on the team's agenda.
In 2025, Weizhi Aviation will continue to strengthen the construction of its R & D base in Beijing, the final assembly base in Wuxi, and the production base in Pinghu, Jiaxing, and accelerate the product testing and market expansion process.
Views of the investors:
Liangxi Science and Technology Innovation Industry Fund said: We are very pleased to witness the success of Weizhi Aviation Technology in the latest round of financing. As an early investor, we continue to be optimistic about the company's huge potential and broad prospects in the field of unmanned transport aircraft. The project leader said: "Weizhi Aviation has stood out in the highly competitive market with its excellent technical strength, clear strategic planning, and efficient management team. The self - developed 'Macro Cloud Bear' unmanned transport aircraft meets the urgent needs of the freight and logistics industry with its high cost - performance ratio and strong adaptability.
The project leader of China Merchants Capital said: With the release of policy dividends in the low - altitude economy, the future market scale will exceed 100 billion yuan. As an innovative enterprise in the low - altitude economy field, Weizhi Aviation has demonstrated strong technical strength and market potential with its self - developed 1.5 - ton fixed - wing unmanned transport aircraft, the 'Macro Cloud Bear'. The company's core team members graduated from the 'Seven Sons of National Defense' universities and have decades of drone R & D experience. The company's products have significant cost - performance advantages and will achieve small - batch delivery in 2025. In the future, we hope that the company will accelerate the testing in extreme environments such as plateaus and extremely cold regions, expand high - value scenarios such as overseas logistics, and become a benchmark enterprise in the global drone cargo field.
GSR Ventures believes: The 500 - kilogram - payload unmanned transport aircraft independently developed by Weizhi Aviation fills a gap in the industry. Its 'dual 500' performance and forward design achieve extremely high cost - performance. The product combines load - carrying efficiency and scene universality, and the self - developed flight control algorithm verifies its ability to perform tasks in complex environments. The team's background, combined with expert resources, forms a triple moat. The two - way value closed - loop of civilian and military applications builds the company's differential competitiveness. In the process of upgrading logistics efficiency and modernizing the national defense system, enterprises with strong engineering capabilities and rapid iteration capabilities will define industry standards. We look forward to Weizhi Aviation opening a golden era of new infrastructure in the low - altitude economy.
