The prospective eVTOL racing series Airspeeder has announced a technical and strategic partnership with cyber protection provider Acronis.
According to a press release, Acronis’ cyber protection solutions will ensure data security for the lidar and machine vision technology that will create “virtual force fields” around each aircraft to enable close but safe racing. Part of this technology will be provided by the cloud technology company and Acronis reseller Teknov8.
Airspeeder aims to promote the technological development and public acceptance of eVTOL aircraft through racing in much the same way that motorsports accelerated development of the automobile. The series was founded by entrepreneur Matt Pearson, who intends to provide the racing aircraft — called “Speeders” — through his eVTOL startup Alauda.
“At Airspeeder we are creating an aerial motorsport driven by innovation,” Pearson stated. “Backing from Acronis, a business with an extraordinary culture of technological success in Formula One and Formula E, represents significant affirmation of our vision to accelerate the next great mobility revolution through sporting competition.”
Acronis solutions are currently used to secure terabytes of data derived from running Formula One cars during testing and racing scenarios. This data is used to analyze performance and set strategy in ways that Airspeeders’ teams expect to mirror.
“Acronis’ place at the leading edge of innovation in data management perfectly aligns with Alauda and Airspeeder’s vision to accelerate a mobility revolution through close sporting competition,” said Acronis board advisor and senior vice president Jan-Jaap Jager. “Our proven, integrated approach to providing easy, efficient, reliable and secure cyber protection for all data, applications and systems, will help Airspeeder to enhance their performance on the air track and in the back office. We look forward to delivering on the promise of a true next generation technical and sporting proposition.”
The companies said the significance of the partnership will be reflected in the prominent placement of the Acronis brand on Airspeeder’s MK4 racing craft. Logistics giant DHL and global money management firm Equals are other confirmed supporters of the series, which hopes to launch its first Grand Prix events next year.
