Anatra

What Anatra does

Anatra is a Raleigh, North Carolina-based privately held aerospace company founded in 2023 that designs and manufactures rugged autonomous cargo unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Its two core products are the LC-500 runway-to-runway cargo UAV listed at $6 million and the AC-500 amphibious variant listed at $12 million, both engineered to carry 500+ lb payloads over 500+ mile ranges at altitudes up to 15,000 feet. The platform uses a hybrid combustion power system (Rotax 916iS engine) with autonomous satellite-communication-based operation, carbon fiber composite construction, self-healing materials, AI predictive maintenance, and advanced onboard systems including Starlink connectivity, 5G/LTE redundancy, EO cameras, RADAR, and ADS-B.

The company sells directly to enterprise customers via its website and a military-veteran-led field sales motion, targeting a primary defense and military segment (contested logistics, battlefield resupply, distributed and littoral operations) and a secondary commercial and civil segment (disaster relief, maritime and offshore platform resupply, remote community supply, and search and rescue). Pricing is structured as one-time hardware purchases at fixed list prices, and the company has achieved FAA experimental exemption (Q4 2023), UK CAA BVLOS approval target (Q1 2026), and demo flights in 1H2025, with commercial Entry into Service of the LC-500 targeted for Q4 2025.

Anatra positions itself as a dual-use US-manufactured platform with emphasis on secure domestic supply chains, attritable cost economics ($12.50 per flight hour maintenance, 250-hour inspection intervals), and an amphibious differentiation versus fixed-wing-only competitors. The company is led by CEO and founder Kevin King, with COO James Cooper (retired USMC F/A-18 pilot), CFO Jonathan Goodfellow (Winterset Capital founder), and CTO Chris Marot (HEKA founder), and has disclosed a single $300,000 seed funding round in August 2024.

Name

Anatra

Legal name

Anatra

Website

https://anatracompany.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Anatra is a Raleigh-based aerospace company founded in 2023 that builds autonomous hybrid cargo UAVs (LC-500 and AC-500) delivering 500+ lb payloads over 500+ miles for defense, disaster relief, maritime, and remote community logistics applications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cargo Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

NAICS

Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing (336414)

SIC

Aircraft (3721), Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812)

akta.pro primary industry

Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aircraft (UAV) (IMABAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Military Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) & Autonomous Aerial Platforms (IMABAMAC), Autonomy Software, AI & Mission Management (UAS/UXV) (IMABAIAH), Autonomous Flight Control & Guidance Systems (UAS/Urban Air Mobility) (IMABAFAO), VTOL & Hybrid UAV Platforms (IMABAIAC)

Keywords

• Cargo unmanned aerial vehicles
• Autonomous cargo drones
• Amphibious cargo UAV
• Military logistics aircraft
• Fixed-wing cargo UAVs

Headquarters

HQ city

Raleigh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. UAV Hardware Sales: Sale of cargo UAV platforms (LC-500 runway-to-runway model and AC-500 amphibious model) at fixed list prices of $6M and $12M respectively. One-time hardware purchase model targeting defense and commercial customers requiring autonomous cargo delivery capabilities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Anatra designs, manufactures, and sells autonomous cargo UAVs for defense and commercial customers operating in remote, contested, and infrastructure-denied environments. The company offers two flagship products: the LC-500 runway-to-runway cargo UAV at a $6 million list price and the AC-500 amphibious cargo UAV at a $12 million list price, both capable of carrying 500+ lbs over 500+ miles at altitudes up to 15,000 ft via hybrid propulsion and satellite-based autonomous operation.

Product overview

Anatra offers two cargo UAV products: the LC-500 (runway-to-runway model) priced at $6 million and the AC-500 (amphibious model) priced at $12 million. Both are autonomous hybrid-powered cargo UAVs capable of carrying 500+ lb payloads over 500+ mile ranges. The LC-500 operates from traditional runways, while the AC-500 adds amphibious capability for water operations. Both products share common platforms including hybrid propulsion, autonomous operation via satellite communication, AI predictive maintenance, and quick cargo handling systems.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• LC-500: Runway-to-runway cargo UAV capable of 500lb+ payload over 500+ mile range, $6M list price
• AC-500

Products and services

• LC-500 Runway-to-Runway Cargo UAV Autonomous runway-to-runway cargo UAV designed for multi-mission use, capable of transporting 500+ lb payloads over 500+ mile ranges at altitudes up to 15,000 ft. Features hybrid power (Rotax 916iS engine), satellite communication-based autonomous operation, AI predictive maintenance, and five-minute cargo loading/unloading. Listed at $6 million for defense and commercial operators.
• AC-500 Amphibious Cargo UAV Amphibious variant of the LC-500 platform uniquely equipped for both land and water touchdowns, enabling operations where water is the only runway. Shares the 500 lb payload, 500+ mile range, and 15,000 ft altitude capabilities, and is designed for multi-mission operations in maritime and remote water environments. Listed at $12 million.

Quantifiable outcome

• 500lbs maximum cargo capacity
• +10 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability2 records

Feature10 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Dronamics: Dronamics operates the Black Swan long-range cargo drone for same-day middle-mile shipments across Europe, comparable to Anatra's commercial remote-community/island logistics value proposition.
• Elroy Air: Elroy Air develops the Chaparral autonomous hybrid-electric vertical takeoff cargo UAV, directly competing with Anatra in the autonomous middle-mile / contested-logistics cargo UAV category for both defense and commercial customers.
• Sabrewing Aircraft: Sabrewing builds the Rhaegal cargo VTOL UAV and competes with Anatra in the autonomous, large-payload uncrewed cargo aircraft category, with overlapping defense and humanitarian/disaster relief use cases.
• Ptero Dynamics: Ptero Dynamics builds the Transwing autonomous cargo UAV with tilting-wing VTOL-to-fixed-wing transition, competing with Anatra in autonomous cargo delivery for defense and commercial logistics use cases.
• Natilus: Natilus is developing autonomous blended-wing-body cargo aircraft aimed at middle-mile freight, overlapping with Anatra's commercial cargo UAV use cases (island/resupply routes) and shared autonomous fixed-wing cargo positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Shield AI: Shield AI develops autonomy (Hivemind) and autonomous aircraft (V-BAT), serving defense customers with autonomous ISR/strike capability that overlaps Anatra's contested-logistics defense buyer base.
• General Atomics Aeronautical Systems: General AtASI builds large military UAS (Predator, Reaper, Mojave), representing the incumbent military UAS prime whose cargo/logistics variants (e.g., MQ-25, logistics UAV studies) sit at the upper end of the same defense customer base as Anatra.
• Anduril Industries: Anduril is a broad defense-tech incumbent building autonomous systems (Lattice, Ghost, Bolt) and pursuing autonomous cargo/eVTOL via partnerships; a much larger, well-capitalized competitor with overlapping defense customer relationships and autonomous flight stack capabilities.

Emerging players

• Merlin Labs: Merlin Labs develops certified autonomy software for fixed-wing aircraft, comparable to Anatra's autonomous flight and AI predictive maintenance capabilities as a technology-adjacent peer in autonomous aviation.
• Karem Aircraft: Karem Aircraft develops advanced VTOL/eVTOL platforms with both commercial and defense applications (e.g., proposed U.S. Army FLRAA-style heavy-lift variants), making it an emerging competitor in autonomous, multi-mission cargo aircraft for defense customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/anatra-company/?viewAsMember=true

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Anatra