Waterfly
Electric Wing-In-Ground craft

The planetary transportation company.

We aim to be the cheapest and fastest way to move across the world. Our electric craft fly a few metres above the sea, carrying people and cargo port to port, 10× cheaper than airplanes.

Contact us How it works
Fig. 0 The mark: forty ellipses, one torus
Render of a Waterfly craft lifting off the water beside a container port at dusk
Render · Lifting off beside a container port
  • 10×Cheaper than flying
  • 0Runways needed
  • 100%Electric
  • 300 kgLargest craft flown so far
How it works

Three ideas, one craft.

Fig. 1 The cushion

Fly a few metres above the water and the rules change.

A wing leaves a swirl of air at each tip. That swirl is drag: the price the wing pays for its lift. Close to the sea, the water squeezes it flat. Air gets trapped under the wing, the craft needs far less power to stay up, and the batteries go further.

39%

of the drag-due-to-lift the same wing makes in open air, flying at 5% of its wingspan above the water.

Drag-due-to-lift relative to open air, from Wieselsberger's ground-effect approximation.

Fig. 2 The electric powertrain

Batteries in the wings drive ten electric motors. The body carries the cargo.

Render of a Waterfly craft in a hangar, side view, with propellers along the wing 1 2 3 4 5 Render · In the hangar
  1. 1
    Ten electric motorsSpread along the wings
  2. 2
    BatteriesCarried inside the wings
  3. 3
    CargoIn the body
  4. 4
    HullTakes off and lands on water
  5. 5
    PeopleFor scale
Render of an ocean charging ship with wind turbines, a craft docked alongsideRender · An ocean charging hub
Fig. 3 The ocean charging hub

Charging stops at sea.

Charging ships with solar panels, wind turbines and batteries wait along the route. The craft docks, charges and flies on.

Port to port

As fast as a plane. As cheap as a ship.

71% of the planet is water. With no runway to build, every coastline, island and harbour can be a stop.

Speed Cost per tonne-km 10× cheaper Plane Ship Waterfly
Progress

Ten times larger, every six months.

We scale one step at a time. Each craft is ten times the mass of the last and proves one thing before we commit to the next.

Fig. 4 Drawn to scale: ten times the mass is about 2.15 times the span
  1. 3 kgTake-off from waterSummer 2025Flown
  2. 30 kgStable flight and landingWinter 2025Flown
  3. 300 kgGround-effect flight2026Flown
  4. 3 tOperations in wavesNextNext
Our story

It started with race cars and solar cars.

Our story started in college at IIT Madras, building electric race cars with Raftar Formula Racing and solar cars with Agnirath. Every year, shipping them to the competition cost more than building them.

So we took what those cars taught us and set out to reimagine the airplane.

  • Ground-effect aerodynamics
  • Electric powertrain
  • Composites
Raftar's electric race car RFR25 cornering at Formula Bharat 2025
Raftar Formula Racing · Formula Bharat 2025
Agnirath's solar car Aagneya in Darwin before the World Solar Challenge 2025
Agnirath · World Solar Challenge 2025
Team

The people building it.

We started at IIT Madras. Today we're a small team of engineers in India, and we build every craft in-house.

  • Portrait of Harish Rajesh

    Harish Rajesh

    Co-founder and CEO
    LinkedIn
  • Portrait of Keshav Kumar

    Keshav Kumar

    Co-founder and CTO
    LinkedIn
  • Portrait of Bindusara Reddy

    Bindusara Reddy

    Co-founder and CBO
Press

In the news.

  • DD India
  • The Hindu
  • The Times of India
  • The Economic Times
  • NDTV
  • Swarajya
  • Republic
  • Aaj Tak
  • Guidance Tamil Nadu
Careers

Nobody has done this. That is the point.

We're a small team taking on one of the hardest engineering problems there is. If one of these keeps you up at night, you belong here.

  • Control

    Fly metres above the waves.

    Hold a craft in ground effect over a moving sea, at speed and in gusts, for long distances without touching down.

  • Autonomy

    Think for itself over open ocean.

    Sense, decide and stay safe with no runway nearby and no pilot on board.

  • Energy

    Make distance almost free.

    Build a powertrain efficient enough that crossing open water costs a fraction of flying.

  • Manufacturing

    Build at the scale of a planet.

    Manufacture marine-grade craft by the thousand: light, cheap and identical, without losing the physics.

See open roles or write to harish@waterfly.blue
Contact

Let's talk.

Cargo, passengers, partnerships or press: tell us what you have in mind and we'll reply from fly@waterfly.blue.

Office
Waterfly Technologies
India