Blade is a technology-powered, global air mobility platform. Founded in 2014, we provide consumers with a cost effective and time efficient alternative to ground transportation for congested routes, predominantly within the Northeast United States and India, through our helicopter, amphibious seaplane and fixed-wing transportation services. Blade’s platform utilizes a technology-powered, asset-light business model with substantial brand recognition. According to a 2020 report prepared by Morgan Stanley Research, the global urban air mobility industry, which includes manufacturing, related technology and infrastructure, packages and freight transportation, military and defense applications, and human transportation, is expected to be approximately $123 billion by 2025 and grow to approximately $640 billion by 2035. We believe that the combination of Blade’s strong brand recognition, growing user base, network of exclusive terminals and our proprietary technology stack provides a competitive advantage in the markets we serve.
Our asset-light business model means that Blade neither owns nor operates any aircraft. Instead, our network of operator partners provide aircraft, pilots, maintenance, insurance and fuel, while we focus on what we do best: booking and aggregating fliers through our mobile app, website and Flier Relations team and providing cost-effective air transportation alternatives to some of the most congested ground routes in the United States and India. Blade’s proprietary “customer-to-cockpit” technology stack enables us to manage hundreds of fliers across numerous simultaneous flights, coordinating multiple operators flying between terminals across our route network. We believe that this technology, which provides us with enhanced logistics capabilities and information from our fliers signaling their interest in new routes, will enable us to continue to scale our business. This technology stack was built with future growth in mind and is designed to allow our platform to be easily scaled to accommodate, among other things, rapid increases in flier volume, new routes, new operators, broader flight schedules, next-generation verticraft and ancillary services (e.g., last/ first-mile ground connections, trip cancellation insurance, baggage delivery) through our mobile apps, website and cloud-based tools. Our technology stack incorporates data collection and analysis technology to help us better understand how fliers use our platform and predict potential growth opportunities.