Introduction

Hipersfera d.o.o. is a young R&D Company from Zagreb, Croatia, developing an autonomous stratospheric airship – a platform which will replace satellites and airplanes in the Remote Sensing industry (5,5Bn USD in 2009).

The platform is “an eye in the sky” that can continuously monitor Earth over a particular geographical spot, beating satellites and airplanes both in price and performance; Hypersphere has a ground footprint of a (remote sensing) satellite, image quality of an airplane, whilst offering a continuous 24/7 coverage.

The project is divided into three investment phases:

  • The first phase (23 months) has finished at the end of August 2010, with a budget of 1mio EUR. The main investor was the Croatian government, in addition to 30% of private investors. Purpose of the first phase was to build a scaled prototype to prove the concept of the innovative airship design. The project has passed 7 independent financial and technical audits, we have built a fully functional 1st scale model, and have flown it for over 450 hours. To date, we have spent in excess of 120.000 man-hours on the project.
  • The second phase has started with the development of the second scale model; it is important to note that the development of this model is finished, and its construction has been started, but the completion is subject to additional funds. Second round investment amounts to two million EUR, for the phase duration of twelve months. End result is an airship capable to easily break the world altitude record, which is the point where project becomes interesting for the traditional international VC capital.
  • Final result of the third phase is a fully functional commercial airship. Duration of this last phase is 24 months, and the required investment is 13 million EUR. In return we are offering equity.

The Hypersphere team consists of 18 full time scientists/engineers and 7 outsourced associates, dedicated to the project that is shaping the future of aeronautics.

Andras Horvai, World Bank Country manager for Croatia stated:
"I have been truly impressed by the talent and commitment of the team developing this fascinating project. It is a great example of Croatian scientists pushing the frontiers of new technological solutions.“

Recently, project has been presented at ESA Investment Forum in Stuttgart, Germany, as the only project originating outside of the European Community.