JAIWON SHIN/BEN DIACHUN
CEO/CTO
Supernal
Irvine
Key cog in Orange County’s nascent flying taxi industry, which is taking off, literally. Supernal is working to build an electric-powered vertical takeoff and landing vehicle—known in the industry as an eVTOL—that will carry four to five passengers in urban areas and nearby locations to start.
THEN: Supernal was launched as the Urban Air Mobility Division of Hyundai Motor Group at the CES 2020 tech show in Las Vegas. Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C., but the tech brains behind its aircraft will be in OC. The company last year picked Irvine for its engineering headquarters, and aims to get flying taxis into service in 2028. It initially leased 106,600 square feet of high-end office space in the Irvine Spectrum to hold that division, and is now in the early stages of a big hiring push for the expected 300-person group.
NOW: Company added another 80,000 square feet of working space at another nearby Irvine Co.-owned building earlier this year. “We’re working on technology at Supernal to power an entirely new dimension of mobility,” Diachun, the company’s chief technology officer, told the Business Journal.
FUTURE: Regulatory certification for the Supernal vehicles is expected in 2024.
IN THEIR WORDS: “Tech talent is critical to making advanced air mobility a reality—and that makes Irvine a great place for our engineering headquarters,” said Diachun, who was named to the CTO role in early 2021. He previously served as CEO and president at Opener, an aerospace startup in Palo Alto.
BEN TIGNER
CEO
Overair
Santa Ana
Head of upstart aerospace firm looking to build an electric air taxi for urban areas. Company’s initial six-seat, Butterfly electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles are expected to be significantly quieter than typical helicopters, and as efficient as fixed-wing airplanes in forward flight. They’re being designed to have a range of over 100 miles, the ability to recharge quickly between trips, a top speed of around 200 miles per hour, and can accommodate five passengers plus a pilot.
THEN: Overair’s technology has been in development since 2004, under parent company Karem Aircraft of Lake Forest. The consumer-focused business was split off at the start of 2020 from Karem Aircraft—founded by legendary Predator drone designer Abe Karem—to allow the Lake Forest firm to focus on its military work.
Ahead of its rebranding last year, Overair raised $25 million in funding, led by Korea’s Hanwha Group.
NOW: Late last year, the company signed a 109,000-square-foot lease to more than double its footprint in Santa Ana.
The new lease is for the entirety of 3030 S. Susan St., an industrial building that’s a few blocks from Segerstrom High School, between Harbor Boulevard and Fairview Street. It’s across the street from Overair’s existing headquarters at 3001 S. Susan St., which is about 94,000 square feet. Overair moved into its initial facility about a year ago.
FUTURE: “We are on track to create 1,000 manufacturing and engineering jobs in Orange County over the next three years as we focus on bringing electric mobility solutions to the market,” Tigner said late last year.
IN THEIR WORDS: “There’s a group of companies that are all in a competition with each other of sorts, although I will say at least in the short term it’s far more collaborative than competitive,” Tigner said. “The potential market is much, much larger than any one company can fill.”
