EmbraerX and Pyka team up to accelerate the future of autonomous agricultural aviation

EmbraerX, Embraer's disruptive business subsidiary, and American Silicon Valley company Pyka announced a partnership to accelerate the future of autonomous crop spraying. The collaboration is focused on technology, certification, operation and future commercialization of the Pelican, a fully electric and autonomous fixed-wing agricultural aircraft, developed by Pyka. 

Using agile experimental processes, the companies will work together to accelerate the arrival of the autonomous solution to the precision agriculture market. EmbraerX is committed to exploring disruptive products and services that can revolutionize business, including new segments for Embraer's agricultural aviation business.   

“EmbraerX is a market accelerator committed to developing solutions that can transform the world and inspire our partners through innovative ideas, and with determination and creativity,” said Daniel Moczydlower, head of EmbraerX. “Pyka’s innovation and technological capabilities are aligned with our strategy of accelerating the creation of new business models through partnerships with exponential growth potential.”

The companies will look for opportunities to leverage autonomous commercial services, as the operation of the Pelican aircraft develops in Brazil in the coming years. The vehicle is already being used by Pyka customers in Central America, with the aim of increasing productivity, cost efficiency, safety and sustainability.  

“We are extremely excited to partner with one of the largest aerospace companies in the world to realize our vision of bringing an electric aircraft into everyday use,” said Michael Norcia, CEO and co-founder of Pyka. “We were very focused on certifying and delivering a spectacular autonomous and electric aircraft to serve our customers. Now we stand alongside an industry leader, in one of the largest agricultural markets in the world, to help scale our electric aircraft business. We look forward to working with Embraer to integrate electric and autonomous agricultural aviation into agribusiness and the broader economy.”

The partnership is supported by Embraer's more than 50 years of history and experience in developing aircraft, certifying, manufacturing, marketing and offering after-sales services.