Startup · United States
Flapping Airplanes
HQ San FranciscoFounded 20251-10 employees
Flapping Airplanes is an AI research lab focused on biologically inspired, data-efficient learning. Rather than scaling large models on massive datasets, it builds systems that learn more like living organisms, extracting more signal from less data.
Funding1 round · $180M
- Equity raised
- $180M
- Latest
- $180MSeed · Jan 28, 2026
| Announced | Stage | Amount | Valuation | Lead investors | Other investors | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 28, 2026 | Seed | $180M | — | GV, Sequoia Capital | Index Ventures, Menlo Ventures | Reported |
- $180MJan 28, 2026
Raised counts equity rounds; debt, secondary sales and grants are totaled separately. Amounts in other currencies are converted at the announcement month's average rate. A ~ marks an estimated or converted amount.
People3
- Aidan Smith · LinkedIn ↗
Co-Founder
- Asher Spector · LinkedIn ↗
Co-Founder & Board Member
- Benjamin Spector · LinkedIn ↗
CEO
Sources7
Profile4
- 1
- 2
PitchBook · Supports Organization · employee range
“employee_range: 1-10 (profile: 7)”
- 3
Crunchbase · Supports Organization · employee range
“employee_range: 1-10 (profile: 1-10)”
- 4
LinkedIn · Supports Organization · employee range
“employee_range: 1-10 (profile: 2-10 employees)”
Funding2
- 5Regulatory filingFlapping Airplanes, Inc. - SEC Form D (0002109371-26-000001)
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · Feb 23, 2026 · Supports Funding round · amount
“Total Amount Sold $ 180,201,507 USD”
- 6
TechCrunch (via Yahoo Finance) · Jan 28, 2026 · Supports Funding round · amount
“$180 million in seed funding from Google Ventures, Sequoia, and Index”
People1
- 7OtherBlack Flag 100.2
Black Flag · Supports Organization, Role
“Flapping Airplanes is an AI research lab focused on biologically inspired, data-efficient learning. Rather than scaling large models on massive datasets, it”
Each fact on this page is attached to the sources that support it. Archived copies are linked when we keep one.