Pivotal
Light electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for defense, public safety, and personal aviation.
Pivotal (formerly Opener) designs and manufactures light eVTOL aircraft including the Helix and BlackFly for crewed and uncrewed operations. The company has a two-year OTA contract with the US Air Force and AFWERX Agility Prime for flight testing and system verification, and is developing the larger Spiro defense-focused aircraft capable of carrying 2,000 lbs of cargo over 300 nautical miles. Pivotal's tilt-aircraft architecture has been under continuous development for over a decade with mature flight heritage.
Overview
- Headquarters
- Palo Alto, CA
- Founded
- 2016
- Employees
- 108
- Total funding
- $1.2M
- Stage
- Private
- Status
- active
- Domains
- eVTOL aircraft, Defense aviation, Electric propulsion
- X / Twitter
- x.com/flypivotal
- Website
- pivotal.aero
Investors0
No linked records yet.
Cap table3
Approximate ownership by holder. Indexed holders link to their records.
Percentages marked ~ are not disclosed. Some are a generic VC-pattern model (founders/team weighted heaviest, option pool lightest, other holders evenly) sized to whatever's left undisclosed — a standard industry shape, not this company's actual cap table.
| Holder | Instrument | Ownership |
|---|---|---|
Angel investors | Preferred / Common | ~40.0% |
Founders & management | Common | ~40.0% |
Employee option pool | Options | ~20.0% |
Programs0
No linked records yet.
Frequently asked
- What does Pivotal do?
- Pivotal (formerly Opener) designs and manufactures light eVTOL aircraft including the Helix and BlackFly for crewed and uncrewed operations. The company has a two-year OTA contract with the US Air Force and AFWERX Agility Prime for flight testing and system verification, and is developing the larger Spiro defense-focused aircraft capable of carrying 2,000 lbs of cargo over 300 nautical miles. Pivotal's tilt-aircraft architecture has been under continuous development for over a decade with mature flight heritage.
- Where is Pivotal headquartered?
- Pivotal is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA and was founded in 2016.
- How much funding has Pivotal raised?
- Pivotal has raised $1.2M in disclosed funding.
- What does Pivotal specialize in?
- Pivotal works across eVTOL aircraft, Defense aviation, Electric propulsion.
- Does Pivotal hold government contracts?
- Defense Tech Atlas links Pivotal to 1 government contract.
Sources & citations2
Each claim links to its underlying source. Confidence reflects how directly the source supports the claim.
- 1
Founded as Opener in 2016; rebranded to Pivotal in 2023; HQ Palo Alto, CA
Pivotal: Opener Unveils Helix; Rebrands to PivotalVerified2023-10-05 - 2
Signed OTA contract with US Air Force / AFWERX Agility Prime; Helix and BlackFly aircraft
Pivotal: Pivotal Signs US Air Force Contract, Expands Agility Prime PartnershipReported2024-05-28