Apr 30, 2026

We're honored to share that Skyfarer has been named to the Founder Institute's FI 50 for 2026 — the annual recognition of standout companies built by FI alumni across 32 countries and 6 continents.

Each year, the Founder Institute curates this list from its global portfolio based on growth milestones, funding, partnerships, and traction. It's inspiring to see such a diverse group of startups across 30+ countries building innovative solutions and shaping what comes next. It's our honor to represent North America and the aviation sector on the 2026 list.

You can see the full FI 50 lineup here: fi.co/50

What this means for us

On many levels, Skyfarer is still a very new project — one that started as an idea and has turned into something real. From our official launch in late 2024, it's still been under 18 months, and things have moved quickly.

We've gotten past certain early challenges, but we're now facing different types of reality checks, and we hold ourselves to higher expectations than we did at the start. That's the part of the journey we're in right now: less about proving the idea works, more about proving it can scale responsibly and serve the aviation training community at the level we want to.

The FI 50 isn't a vanity list. It's pulled from the alumni of the world's largest pre-seed startup accelerator — a network whose graduates have collectively raised over $2 billion in funding. Sitting alongside companies tackling everything from defense drones and EV infrastructure to medtech and sustainable packaging is a reminder of how broad the entrepreneurial map is, and how specific each of our jobs within it actually is.

Aviation is a sector that doesn't always get covered in the usual startup conversations. Flight training, in particular, is an industry that's been overdue for new tools, new platforms, and a new generation of operators willing to build them. Being recognized as the aviation entry on this list is an acknowledgment of where we've come from and a responsibility for where we go next.

We're encouraged to see more people coming to Skyfarer, and we're grateful to be joining forces with other aviation businesses to support the broader community.