Air cargo is, both literally and figuratively, taking off. According to the International Air Transport Association, taking shipping to the skies has resulted in a projected $175 billion in air cargo revenue for 2021, topping last year's record-setting $128 billion.

"Hydrogen electric unmanned aerial systems can fly several times further than a battery-electric equivalent," he continued. "If stored in gaseous form, it can be up to 6 times the duration of a battery drone – if liquid that could be over 10 times."

The funding round for the Singapore-based company was led by Japan's Mirai Creation Fund, which is backed by Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. Other investors included ACA Investors, Capital Management Group, Ascent Hydrogen Fund and the venture arm of Singapore's Economic Development Board.

"We are delighted to welcome such an experienced and supportive group of investors as we embark on the next stage of our journey," said founder and CEO Taras Wankewycz. "Our investors share our big-impact vision and how we get there safely. They recognize that this is a long journey and that we must first address our immediate markets while solving key technical and regulatory challenges – before adding more complexity."

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While H3 Dynamics' ultimate goal is to conduct commercial passenger flights with its hydrogen-powered drone tech, Wankewycz admits that's a long way away. First, he says, they'll need to start with smaller, less sensitive cargo.

"Before carrying people, we will carry freight, and before carrying tons, we will carry kilos. Commercialization will start with unmanned platforms first."

Wankewycz proposes a three-pronged approach to make that vision a reality while generating profits along the way.

"So far we've applied the solution to hundreds of high rise buildings in South East Asia," Wankewycz told Modern Shipper. "We took an extra step recently to support clients in rectification automation, by tying our solution to a repair/maintenance vendor network so that work orders could be sent out using the same digital platform. Using our charging stations, this process could be deployed to any location in the world."

Next, H3 Dynamics will soon release a drone nesting station. Impeded by the tall buildings in cities, the company is introducing these "cloud-connected vertiports" to fill in the gaps. They'll provide 5G communication between drones in nests across cities to make them visible in national airspace in real-time, and they can be permanently installed on roofs or in remote industrial sites.

Finally, the company is partnering with global air traffic control leader THALES to build "an autonomous urban air mobility infrastructure." The effort will begin with pint-sized camera drones that can monitor smaller shipments, but Wankewycz hopes to eventually monitor large, unmanned cargo. Real-time monitoring will be an essential next step for the company, which says its hydrogen-powered drone flights will be able to travel nearly 500 miles.

H3 Dynamics also says it plans on introducing longer-range hydrogen-powered aircraft that can carry more weight in the middle mile, beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) cargo sector. Eventually, the goal is to shift toward manned, hydrogen-powered aircraft capable of carrying human passengers.

The company will also use the funding from the Series B to expand its engineering and sales teams at its locations in Austin, Texas, and Toulouse, France.

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