How Aerospace Startups Can Seek Partnerships to Secure Their Future

September 1, 2024

Companies don’t have to be corporate giants to gain market share in the aerospace industry. Large corporations are crucial in sharing the aerospace landscape, even as emerging startups with innovative ideas and newer technologies turn to partnerships to amplify their impact and leverage their extensive resources and expertise. Success depends upon identifying a consultant or partner with expertise in aerospace and possibly in other industries, such as the automotive sector, that involve strategic planning, risk management, navigating uncertain futures, and positioning for the future.

Identifying Potential Partners

Aerospace startups are investing in modern technologies — including electrification, more sustainable practices, and even reinventing innovations such as supersonic flight for commercial passengers. By commercializing the aerospace sector, these companies open up many new potential revenue streams within the aerospace environment.

As smaller startups dive into these new developments, many older and more established companies that are potential partners for smaller startups in the aerospace sector continue with traditional, large commercial airliners, for example. These larger organizations can be crucial for aerospace startups seeking partnerships that provide them with the necessary design expertise and experience. There are several steps aerospace startups can take to identify potential partnership opportunities to help them continue with the resources they need to succeed.

Networking and reaching out to established organizations are vital actions. Many startups work with organizations like NASA to leverage their existing resources and knowledge. Establishing partnerships with organizations like this gives parties the confidence to invest, which is critical for jumping into aerospace enterprises and provides a solid jumping-off point for new aerospace enterprises. A proactive approach to partnering with these larger entities is crucial to a startup’s growth.

Many startup founders have worked within large companies in similar industries and understand how to manage their new ventures. Bringing that existing knowledge into the new organization is critical. For example, an aerospace founder who worked on the propulsion team at SpaceX should have a solid understanding of how to scale up a rocket propulsion system.

It’s also essential for new company leadership to critically assess the enterprise’s current state and plan for the short and long term. One strategy is to seek partnerships that benefit both companies over time and can contribute information and resources to enhance the startup’s offerings. It is crucial to consider how a new aerospace company’s products will be used over an extended lifecycle.

The Important Role of Inside-Out Design

Research and development (R&D) is a crucial component and determinant of any new company’s success. Creating new aerospace products requires a significant investment in R&D. Some startups develop complex technologies involving new materials, fuel sources, and complex manufacturing. Testing these technologies is critical to the R&D process, underscoring the vital role of a proper testing facility.

Designing the right testing facility requires an “inside-out” approach that accounts for a startup’s current and future needs now. Business priorities and project goals drive R&D testing facilities. Flexibility is essential because the company’s products will ideally be used for a long time, and design needs may change over time. An inside-out approach considers the core concepts of the product or test articles first and then works outward to address the physical aspects and other project needs.

Tailoring facilities to the organization’s specific needs often includes a first step in using other facilities. Universities, for example, can be solid partners to help achieve testing goals early on in a startup’s career. Partnering with universities is one way to access many established resources outside the company. Still, it’s important to note that there are other options or routes to doing so. Ultimately, moving into a dedicated facility provides many positives. Taking the core components from the partnering facility is a great way to start a design concept and helps improve testing criteria. Asking how the facility did or did not provide the unit under test with proper conditions and capabilities will create that set of questions to define what is needed to test all aspects of the product.

Metrics and Measuring Success

One sign of a successful partnership is the ability to maintain a sense of autonomy and flexibility, which requires the startup’s core team to wear many hats. This means developing a team of individuals with experience in multiple disciplines who can be called on for assistance on tasks and projects that might not be part of their primary role. Including key members on the team who can do multiple things very well and share knowledge in various areas makes the team more aware of how all aspects of the product are affected by just a few decisions. This approach aims to create a more plugged-in team ready to handle the many challenges of working on the leading edge of technology.

Facility managers and leaders can use key performance indicators (KPIs) and other metrics to measure the effectiveness of their partnerships. For example, they can assess if schedules are being met, costs are maintained, and employees feel successful daily. It is important for leadership to have high-level and detail-oriented KPIs related to the partnership and company progression. Gathering as much data as possible on critical points to review often and early is also crucial. When examining the most critical KPIs, leadership can prepare to make decisions to stay the course or help their team pivot to a new directive. Understanding expectations early helps to make these decisions. In addition to KPIs, preparing cost estimations and projected schedules and providing team members with expectations are great tools to compare against KPI data collection. Other KPIs to consider include increased efficiency and expanded testing capabilities. Additional indicators of an effective partnership are upticks in the startup’s productivity and adherence to or improvement in project timelines after bringing in an outside partner.

The startup can also determine whether it can demonstrate to investors that its product is clearing critical design milestones, prototyping, and manufacturing multiple examples and is ready or close to being ready to leave the facility and enter the air. Airworthiness is a significant, meaningful test for any aerospace startup.

These indicators are critical for scaling up the organization. Without them, a startup might not know when it’s time to grow, hire more employees, or explore the development of other products. These metrics will determine whether the company is growing, remaining stagnant, or regressing.

As with any startup, time is of the essence for a new aerospace company. The quicker a startup can identify partnerships that add value, the better. Many other organizations may want to help, but it’s important that these organizations also benefit from the relationship. Startups that focus on a complex fixture or component and become experts on that product give large companies a product they could consider and use to improve their designs.

There usually is no blueprint for innovation. Ultimately, the key to creating productive, successful partnerships is finding the right partner with a winning track record and starting with a defined process that includes understanding new technology from the inside out. Then, after the internal elements of the needs, goals, and design are fully understood, expand upon the process. Forming this type of mutually beneficial partnership can grow into multiple opportunities for both organizations.

This article was written by Nick Barclay, Mechanical Engineer, ACS (Verona, WI), for more information, visit here  .

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