HALO Aerotech

Enabling the future of logistics and air mobility with next-gen aerial platforms

HALO Aerotech is an Adelaide based startup founded in 2026 to address a growing gap in rapidly expanding drone and aerial mobility markets. Founder James Kim is an experienced mechanical and aerospace engineer who has spent the past decade in the defence and dual-use sector, developing microturbine systems through his first co-founded start up ecoJet Engineering and his roles across aerospace firms.

Benefits

High thrust density delivering heavy-lift capability in a significantly smaller form factor than comparable platforms
Fuel agnostic jet propulsion system improves hover efficiency while dramatically reducing noise
Compact platform with no exposed rotating parts, reducing risk and improving safety for urban environments.

Technology

HALO Aerotech is developing a novel aerial propulsion engine and vehicle architecture for heavy-lift drone and vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) applications in dense, complex and contested environments. The approach uses augmented miniature, fuel-agnostic jet engine technology combined with a proprietary platform architecture to improve hover efficiency, form factor, reduce noise, and eliminate the risks associated with exposed rotors. This enables a compact, energy-dense solution with a high payload-to-size ratio, overcoming the limitations of conventional electric quadcopter and tilt-rotor systems, which are constrained by battery capacity. The result is a new class of aerial platforms capable of supporting advanced logistics and transport operations.

Potential markets

HALO Aerotech’s target customers require rapid, reliable movement of heavy payloads in dense or contested environments. Immediate markets may include industrial inspections, emergency response, and defence logistics and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). Longer-term opportunities include urban logistics, advanced air mobility and spaceport support. Its platform-agnostic engine IP also enables integration into third-party platforms, supporting a flexible dual-pathway commercial model.

Partnering opportunities

HALO Aerotech seeks partners to accelerate development across engineering, prototyping, market validation and entry, which would include pre-seed investors to accelerate this. Near term key collaborators could include universities with fluid/aerodynamics researchers as well as prototyping/test facility support. They are also seeking strategic partners to support market entry into defence and other dual-use domestic and international markets, such as primes, platform Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), distributors, and existing service providers.