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HAILSTRUM_RoboticsHailstrum Robotics
About

One airframe, and a stubborn engineering problem.

Hailstrum started at University of Technology Sydney in 2023 as a research question: why is last-mile delivery still the most expensive part of shipping, and what would it take for an aircraft to beat a van on cost? Two years of research later, we are building the answer.

Our story

Research first, then metal

We spent two years — October 2023 to October 2025 — on the unglamorous part: understanding the real limitations of current drone technology and the operational challenges logistics businesses actually face. Not the pitch-deck version. The route-economics version.

What came out of it was narrow and specific. Delivery drones don’t fail on ambition, they fail on energy budget. So rather than start with an airframe and hope, we started with propulsion efficiency and built outward: a wing so the aircraft isn’t fighting gravity the whole flight, a propeller matched to its cruise condition, and a GNC stack that treats energy as something to plan around.

We prototype and manufacture out of UTS ProtoSpace in Sydney, and we post most of what we build — including the parts that fail — on Instagram.

Where we are

  • Blackbird Protostars

    Season 11. Backed by Blackbird VC with non-dilutive funding.

  • IBISWorld 3P Programme

    Selected for the 2026 IBISWorld 3P Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program at UTS.

  • UTS ProtoSpace

    Prototyping and manufacturing out of the UTS ProtoSpace facility in Sydney.

Roadmap

Six stages from research to scale

Stage two never really closes — testing and refining is how the business stays alive, not a phase we pass through.

  1. Stage 1·Research

    Complete

    Oct 2023 — Oct 2025

    Comprehensive research into the limitations of current technology and the operational challenges faced by last-mile logistics.

  2. Stage 2·Prototyping & testing

    In progress

    Nov 2025 — ongoing

    Building and flying. Testing and refining products and solutions is not a phase that ends — it's how the business stays alive long term.

  3. Stage 3·Industry engagement

    In progress

    Jan — Dec 2026

    Engaging with and establishing connections with logistics businesses, to understand their needs and how they'd benefit from what we're building.

  4. Stage 4·Funding

    Planned

    Next

    Securing funding through research grants and pre-sales initiatives to support project development and early-stage implementation.

  5. Stage 5·Manufacturing

    Planned

    After stage 4

    Overseeing the manufacturing process and continuing to thoroughly test our products, to maintain a high standard of quality, functionality and customer satisfaction.

  6. Stage 6·Expansion

    Planned

    Long term

    Scaling operations, increasing market reach and growing the business infrastructure to support broader deployment.

The team

Co-founders

Second-year engineering students at UTS, building this around coursework, mostly at night.

Chirag Murali

Co-founder & CEO

Second-year mechatronic engineering student.

Prithvi Thakre

Co-founder

Second-year software engineering student and a big fan of aeronautics.

The model

Where this goes if it works

Figures below are projections from our ten-year model, not results. We are pre-revenue.

$40M

Projected revenue from drone sales

10-year model

$23M

Projected gross profit

10-year model

$21K

Cost of goods per unit

At volume

9–10 yrs

Pipeline to maturity

Current plan

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