HyLight
HyLight provides zero-emission aerial inspection using hydrogen-powered airships equipped with LiDAR, optical cameras, and gas-leak detectors. The autonomous airships operate BVLOS via RF, LTE, and satellite links, delivering millimeter-level data for infrastructure operators across Europe. The platform pairs onboard AI-driven anomaly detection with cloud analytics to pinpoint faults like broken insulators and heat points along railways, powerlines, and pipelines.
- Drones & Uncrewed Systems
- Aerospace
- Autonomous Vehicles
- Clean Technology
- Robotics
- Artificial Intelligence
- Hardware
- Data & Analytics
- Internet of Things
- Energy
- Industrial Automation
- Software Only
Funding
Raised to date
€16.7MRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
Est. $18.2Macross 2 rounds
+5€13M · Funding Round
Announced Oct 2026 · from article date
Disclosed cumulative: $14.2M
Not on chart (date unknown): Funding Round €3.7M
Founders
Product
Problem
Critical infrastructure such as railways, power lines, and pipelines is currently inspected using helicopters or short-range drones, which are expensive, emit pollutants, have limited endurance, and cannot provide the high-resolution data needed for early fault detection.
Solution
HyLight addresses this gap by deploying autonomous, hydrogen-fuel-cell powered airships that can fly long distances without refueling while carrying up to 10 kg of high-precision sensors, including LiDAR, optical cameras, and gas-leak detectors. The airships operate fully autonomously, using BVLOS control via RF, LTE, and satellite links, and generate millimeter-level resolution data across extensive asset networks. Onboard AI processes the sensor streams in real time to detect anomalies such as broken insulators, vegetation encroachment, or heat points, and delivers actionable insights through a cloud platform. This approach enables zero-emission, cost-effective inspections at scale, reducing reliance on costly manned flights and improving the frequency and accuracy of infrastructure monitoring.
Target Audience
Primary customers are operators of large-scale critical infrastructure—railway companies, electricity transmission utilities, gas and oil pipeline owners, as well as transport agencies and environmental regulators that require frequent, high-precision inspections.
Features
- Hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion providing zero-emission, long-endurance flights for continuous, large-area coverage
- Fully autonomous mission planning and BVLOS operation with RF, LTE, and satellite connectivity
- Payload capacity of up to 10 kg for multi-sensor suites (LiDAR, high-resolution optics, gas-leak detection)
- Millimeter-level spatial resolution and 3D reconstruction of inspected assets
- Real-time AI-driven anomaly detection for insulators, vegetation encroachment, heat spots, and gas leaks
- Cloud-based analytics platform delivering instant insights, alerts, and downloadable data products
- High-agility hovering and precise positioning enabled by front and rear gyroscopic vector-trust technology