What SLiNK-TECH does

SLiNK-TECH Ltd is a Bristol-based aerospace technology company founded in 2018 that develops PORTAL (Permanent OR Temporary Automated Launch), a deployable vertiport system for autonomous drone and eVTOL launch and landing. The core product combines a dynamic sensor and operational control system with SLiNK Cloud, a proprietary cloud-based management platform that enables remote oversight and API connectivity to the broader future-flight ecosystem. PORTAL is offered in permanent, temporary (deployable in hours) and dynamic network configurations, and is designed to operate without on-site pilots, supporting vehicles ranging from small delivery drones to passenger air-taxis.

The company generates revenue through a mix of hardware sales of PORTAL systems, recurring SLiNK Cloud subscription revenue, professional services for integration, testing and demonstration, and competitive R&D grants from UK Research and Innovation / Innovate UK under the Future Flight Challenge programme. Its customer base is concentrated in the UK public sector, including NHS Wales (Welsh Blood Service, Welsh Ambulance Service), UK police forces (Thames Valley Police, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary), and aerospace test operators (Snowdonia Aerospace Centre, site of the UK's first permanent vertiport unveiled July 2024). The company leads the seven-organisation Project PORTAL consortium and has expanded its partner ecosystem in 2025 to include Skyports Drone Services, Volant Autonomy, Aerovolt, idroneimages and Leading Edge Power.

SLiNK-TECH is a private limited company registered in England & Wales (Company #11502413) with 1-10 employees and has secured approximately £4 million in cumulative Innovate UK grant funding across three Future Flight Challenge rounds (December 2020, July 2022, September 2025). Leadership comprises CEO and Founder John Goudie and Non-Executive Director and Co-Founder Andrew Cox, both with prior senior engineering roles at Facebook's Aquila HAPS programme. The company has no disclosed venture capital or private equity funding and operates exclusively in the United Kingdom.

Name

SLiNK-TECH

Legal name

SLiNK-TECH Ltd

Website

https://slink-tech.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SLiNK-TECH develops PORTAL, an automated deployable vertiport system with cloud-based management that enables pilotless drone and eVTOL launch and landing. It serves UK emergency services, healthcare providers, and aerospace test operators through hardware sales, subscriptions, and Innovate UK grant funding.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bristol

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. PORTAL Vertiport System Sales: Sale of PORTAL vertiport systems (hardware and software) to customers for permanent or temporary installation. The system can be purchased and installed at customer locations.
2. SLiNK Cloud Subscription: Cloud-based management system for remote PORTAL operations with API connectivity. Likely subscription-based for ongoing access and support.
3. Professional Services: Integration, testing, and demonstration services. The company provides installation, operational concept development, and standard operating procedures for proposed drone networks.
4. Government R&D Grants: Funding through Future Flight Challenge grants from UK Research and Innovation/Innovate UK for developing and demonstrating key technologies for future flight.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SLiNK-TECH develops and sells the PORTAL (Permanent OR Temporary Automated Launch) vertiport system — a deployable combination of integrated sensor hardware, dynamic operational control software, and the proprietary SLiNK Cloud remote management platform — that enables fully autonomous drone and eVTOL launch and landing. The system is offered in permanent, temporary, and dynamic-network configurations for enterprise and government customers including vertiport operators, emergency services, and healthcare providers.

Product overview

SLiNK-TECH offers PORTAL, a modular deployable vertiport system for autonomous drone and eVTOL operations. The core PORTAL product combines hardware sensors with SLiNK Cloud software for remote management. The system supports multiple deployment configurations: permanent fixed infrastructure installations, rapidly deployable temporary vertiports (ready in hours), and dynamic drone networks with reconfigurable vertiport networks. PORTAL provides integrated air-traffic control functionality enabling fully autonomous operations without local pilots, supporting vehicles from small delivery drones to large passenger air-taxis. The company was founded in 2018 and has received multiple Future Flight Challenge grants from Innovate UK.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PORTAL: Permanent OR Temporary Automated Launch (and Landing) - a deployable vertiport system with integrated sensor and operational control for automated drone launch and landing.

Products and services

• PORTAL Vertiport System PORTAL (Permanent OR Temporary Automated Launch) is a deployable vertiport system combining integrated dynamic sensor hardware and operational control software that enables fully autonomous drone and eVTOL launch and landing at any location. The system scans air and ground, commands vehicles where to land, and scales throughput of operating drones without the need for local pilots.
• SLiNK Cloud

Quantifiable outcome

• Deployable in hours not days
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• AerovoltcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Installing world's first public network of charging for electric aircraft. Partnering to integrate SLiNK-TECH's automated vertiport with Aerovolt's charging network for electric aircraft. Collaboration under Memorandum of Understanding for drone healthcare supply chains in Wales.
• idroneimages (IDI/idroneinnovations)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Forward-thinking technology company specializing in vendor-agnostic software and hardware for drone automation. Leading the Drone as a First Responder (DFR) project with SLiNK-TECH and Leading Edge Power, working with Thames Valley Police and Hampshire police.
• Leading Edge Power (LEP)supportingTechnology or Integration · 1 September 2025British manufacturer of off-grid energy systems based in Herefordshire. Producing Drone Box docking station, power enclosure, and flexible energy supply for SLiNK's PORTAL system.
• Skyports Drone ServicessupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025World's leading drone airline and operator for medical delivery drones. Operating drones for Dragon's Heart project integration and demonstration activities, providing Westcott Drone Centre for testing and integration support.
• Volant AutonomysupportingTechnology or Integration · 1 September 2025Specialist airspace integrator with 35+ years' experience in civil and military aerospace. Integrating autonomous flight guidance software on novel ground-based surveillance radar and Skyports' medical delivery drone for ACAS sXu capability.
• Connected Places CatapultsupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2022National innovation agency supporting business-led innovation. Sponsored the Future of Air Mobility Accelerator programme which SLiNK-TECH was accepted onto in November 2022.
• Cambridge SensoriiscoreTechnology or Integration · 1 July 2022UK SME designer of millimetric radar sensors for low SWaP applications. Developing ground-to-air surveillance radar above the vertiport for localised airspace management and landing pad automation. RadarAware technology detects non-cooperative targets including UAVs, microlights, birds, and light aircraft.
• R4DAR TechnologiescoreTechnology or Integration · 1 July 2022Cambridge UK start-up improving safety in the smart autonomous world. Develops low-cost identification beacons for ground or UAV-mounted radar enabling radar to identify, classify and localise hazards day or night, in all weather conditions, in GNSS-denied environments.
• University of BristolcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2022World-leading research institution ranking in world's top 100. Contributions from FlightLab, Bristol Robotics Laboratory, and Intelligent Systems Laboratory. Developing data-driven models of flight performance and high-performance VTOL traffic management systems.
• Snowdonia Aerospace CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2022Premier commercial UK test centre for next-generation aerospace including 'drones-for-good'. Located at Llanbedr, Gwynedd. Houses the first permanent UK vertiport installation (PORTAL system purchased January 2024, installed June 2024).
• ANGOKAsupportingTechnology or Integration · 1 July 2022IoT Security company headquartered in Belfast with offices in London and The Hague. Provides quantum-resilient security solution creating trust between devices for secure communication over untrusted networks. Secures the operational design domain of PORTAL services.
• Auriga AerospacecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2022SME focused on developing large UAV/HAPS platforms and delivering commercial UAV operations. Engaged in BVLOS operations in non-segregated airspace. Provides hub-to-spoke flight test activities using their eVTOL air vehicle for PORTAL trials.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Skyports: Skyports operates vertiport infrastructure for urban air mobility (Skyports Infrastructure) and is a SLiNK-TECH consortium partner in the Dragon's Heart project. Both target the same emerging automated vertiport market, with overlapping UK regulators (CAA) and shared customers such as NHS-related medical drone delivery.
• Urban-Air Port: Urban-Air Port is a UK-based developer of deployable and permanent vertiport infrastructure for eVTOLs and drones, including the Air-One demonstrator. It competes head-on with SLiNK-TECH in building the first generation of automated vertiports and serves overlapping government and commercial customers.

Emerging players

• Matternet: Matternet operates autonomous urban medical drone delivery networks (e.g., with the NHS in the UK) using purpose-built droneports. It addresses the same automated medical logistics use case as SLiNK-TECH's NHS Wales deployments but uses its own drone/launch infrastructure rather than modular vertiport hardware.
• Vertical Aerospace: Vertical Aerospace is a Bristol, UK-based eVTOL developer targeting passenger air-taxi service. As a near-term customer and ecosystem partner for automated vertiport infrastructure, it overlaps with SLiNK-TECH on the UK CAA regulatory pathway and eVTOL flight corridors.
• Volocopter: Volocopter is a German eVTOL air-taxi developer that created the VoloPort vertiport concept (originally with Skyports). It overlaps with SLiNK-TECH at the vertiport infrastructure layer of the UAM stack and shares the goal of supporting autonomous passenger and cargo eVTOL operations.
• Joby Aviation: Joby is a US-listed eVTOL air-taxi company preparing commercial passenger operations and will require scaled vertiport infrastructure (it has invested in related companies). It represents the type of eVTOL customer that would deploy SLiNK-TECH's PORTAL systems once certified air-taxi service launches.
• Altitude Angel: Altitude Angel is a UK-based provider of drone airspace management and UTM (U-space) software underpinning drone operations. It addresses the same autonomous, integrated drone ops stack that SLiNK-TECH's PORTAL targets, and both work closely with the CAA on regulatory frameworks for BVLOS flight in the UK.
• Archer Aviation: Archer is a US-listed eVTOL developer building Midnight for urban air mobility, with plans for vertiport networks. It overlaps with SLiNK-TECH as a future infrastructure buyer/partner for automated launch and landing of autonomous eVTOLs in dense urban environments.

Others

• Dedrone: Dedrone provides airspace security, counter-UAS detection, and drone airspace management used at airports, vertiports and high-value sites. Its situational awareness stack is complementary to, and could integrate with, SLiNK-TECH's PORTAL sensor and operational control system for non-cooperative airspace awareness.

Broad incumbents

• EHang: EHang is a publicly listed Chinese autonomous eVTOL developer that has built and operated its own passenger-grade vertiports in China and overseas. It competes more broadly than SLiNK-TECH across both aircraft and infrastructure but directly addresses the same automated vertiport use case for autonomous aerial vehicles.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/slink-tech

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

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 SLiNK-TECH