Boosting High-Quality Development of the Industrial Chain · Venture Capital Record | Aokun Technology: Becoming the "Shovel Seller" for China's Aviation Industry

In Pukou High-Tech Zone of Nanjing, a brand-new low-altitude comprehensive flight base is rising proudly. Looking up, above the lush green lawn, multiple drones trace graceful arcs across the clear blue sky. In June this year, Aokun Aviation Technology (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. officially settled in this vibrant land and established here the first low-altitude equipment airworthiness certification and test flight service base (hereinafter referred to as the "Base") under its parent company, Shanghai Aokun Information Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Aokun Technology").

Eight years ago, when China’s civil aviation industry was still in the "pioneering stage", Xiao Fei, founder and CEO of Aokun Technology, 敏锐 ly entered the field of aviation engineering services with keen insight. He led the company to gradually grow into China’s largest private airworthiness certification service enterprise with the most comprehensive professional capabilities, the country’s first private professional flight test service provider, and a leading domestic provider of aviation test system solutions.

Today, with the accelerated industrialization of domestically produced large aircraft and the surging development of the low-altitude economy, Aokun Technology once again stands at the forefront of the times and spreads its wings to soar into the vast sky that belongs to it.

图片2.png

Building the "Wanda Plaza of the Low-Altitude Sector"

The first phase of Aokun Base covers an area of approximately 1,400 square meters, mainly consisting of an airborne system laboratory, a structural strength laboratory, a propulsion system laboratory, an aircraft noise laboratory, and other facilities. It is equipped with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) sites, runways, and various comprehensive support facilities for helicopters, small fixed-wing aircraft, and drones to take off and land.

图片3.png

Looking Around, the Test Flight Base Has Taken Shape, with Technicians Moving Between Labs

“Our helicopter has just received a mission and has already flown to Changzhou!” A staff member said, pointing to the aircraft flying away.

Why would an enterprise spend a huge sum of money to purchase a helicopter on its own? Xiao Fei explained: “Verifying the design of aviation products in real flight has irreplaceable advantages that no ground laboratory can match. Take the testing of communication and navigation equipment as an example—sometimes, simulating the electromagnetic environment in a ground laboratory is costly and has limited effectiveness. However, mounting the equipment on a general-purpose aircraft for flight tests yields more authentic and reliable verification results, and is sometimes more economical.”

As he spoke, he painted such a picture: a helicopter flies over the glistening waters, capturing every fluctuation of electromagnetic interference in a real environment.

This innovative model directly addresses industry pain points. With the localization of large aircraft and the rapid development of general aviation, the demand for professional test flight services has surged. However, there are only a handful of professional institutions in China that can provide test flight services, resulting in a severe shortage in the market. Currently, Aokun Technology owns one self-purchased helicopter and one managed fixed-wing aircraft, providing customers with full-process, all-element “airborne laboratory” services, including test flight technical consulting, modification services, and test flight organization and implementation.

Recalling the Decision to Settle in Nanjing，When talking about the decision-making process of settling in Nanjing, Xiao Fei recalled that in early 2024, the company had the idea of building an aviation equipment test flight base. At that time, the team inspected multiple cities in the Yangtze River Delta but struggled to find an ideal site. “Traditional industrial zones are like jigsaw puzzles that can’t be put together—areas with factory buildings lack take-off and landing space, while places with open space can’t have factory buildings constructed.” The problem was finally solved when they encountered the Nanjing Low-Altitude Comprehensive Flight Base in Pukou High-Tech Zone.

“Here, there are both standardized factory buildings and open take-off and landing areas, and the land use type is a perfect match,” Xiao Fei said. What impressed him even more was the “Nanjing Speed” of Pukou High-Tech Zone—all procedures were completed in just three months, from the first negotiation to the official signing. The local government also provided supporting policies specifically for the base, such as airspace coordination and industrial chain connection, hitting the “accelerator button” for the project.

A Blueprint Beyond the Present.Currently, the base has undertaken test flight tasks for multiple projects, but Xiao Fei’s vision extends far beyond the present. He outlined an exciting blueprint: “Relying on this base, we will expand functions such as airworthiness certification, maintenance and modification, personnel training, and even popular science and research studies, to build an aviation industry ecosystem radiating across the Yangtze River Delta.” He made a vivid analogy: “Just as Wanda Plaza integrates diverse business formats, we want to be the ‘Wanda Plaza of the low-altitude sector’. The Nanjing base is the first piece in the puzzle; in the future, the company will connect dots into lines in the Pearl River Delta, Northwest China, Northeast China, and other regions, weaving an aviation engineering service network covering the whole country.”

The Rise of a Private Enterprise Amid the Take-off of the C919

Rewind to 2015: Xiao Fei, who was working at a well-known domestic enterprise at that time, registered Aokun Technology with an entrepreneurial dream, but had no clear direction for his business.

A turning point in fate came in 2017. “At that time, a domestic enterprise imported a light helicopter from Europe and needed to re-conduct airworthiness certification in China. I was invited to participate in this project, and this opportunity made me realize the huge potential here,” Xiao Fei said.

In fact, in the same year, China’s aviation industry achieved a milestone breakthrough. On May 5, 2017, amid the deafening roar of engines, the domestically produced large aircraft C919 successfully made its maiden flight at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. This feat shocked the entire aviation industry like spring thunder and also stirred up waves in Xiao Fei’s heart.

At that time, two major industrial waves were sweeping across China’s aviation sector: on the one hand, the state vigorously promoted the strategic layout of the localization of the large aircraft industrial chain, and the entire industry’s attention to civil aviation continued to rise; on the other hand, the low-altitude economy began to emerge, showing vigorous vitality. As a “passport” for civil aviation products and components to legally enter the market, the demand for airworthiness certification surged exponentially. However, at that time, the domestic aviation industry’s understanding of airworthiness certification was almost non-existent, and private enterprises specializing in airworthiness certification services were extremely rare.

The knock of opportunity became increasingly clear, and the entrepreneurial fire in Xiao Fei’s heart was completely ignited. He lost no time in “recruiting talents”—relying on his years of accumulated connections and reputation, he brought former colleagues who had fought side by side with him into the entrepreneurial team one by one. This “dream team” composed of industry veterans quickly made inroads in the market with their profound professional accumulation in the field of airworthiness certification.

Today, although the proportion of airworthiness certification business in the company’s overall business has dropped from the initial “dominant position” to 20%, its absolute scale continues to climb, and it has become an important “traffic entry point” for the company. “Customers come to us with certification needs, but as the project progresses in depth, we find that they also have needs in links such as design and development, testing and verification, so we can naturally extend more services,” Xiao Fei said.

For example, for a long time, in the field of complex systems such as airborne flight control, avionics, electromechanics, and power, China’s aviation industry has lacked professional general simulation test platforms, flight test platforms, and professional tool software, resulting in a large gap compared with advanced international standards. Faced with this dilemma, many enterprises have had to spend huge sums of money to introduce foreign solutions, while also facing the risk of “choking points” due to technological blockades at all times. To this end, Aokun Technology resolutely opened a “second battlefield” in 2021, starting the independent R&D of the AeroKMatrix series of aviation measurement and control products, and providing customers with customized test platform solutions that run through the entire product development life cycle, including requirement development and confirmation, system integration and verification, automated testing, and flight testing. The products have already played an important role in multiple model development projects.

After years of in-depth development, Aokun Technology has built an impressive industry landscape: it has served more than 100 high-quality customers in the aviation field and deeply participated in over 200 model development and certification projects. In the large aircraft track, Aokun Technology is a technical partner of “national team” enterprises such as COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China), AVIC (Aviation Industry Corporation of China), AECC (Aero Engine Corporation of China), and CETC (China Electronics Technology Group Corporation); in the booming low-altitude economy field, the company has provided various engineering and technical services to many leading domestic eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) enterprises and supporting manufacturers, including EHang, XPeng XHT, Volant, Lanyi, E-Vtol, and Muyu Tian.

A “Scarce Shovel Seller” in the Aviation Industry

“Shovel seller”—this is how Xiao Fei positions Aokun Technology. “Amid the current ‘gold rush’ boom of China’s aviation industry development, Aokun is a company that ‘sells shovels’. We are willing to provide the entire industry with various professional engineering services and solutions that can solve practical problems,” he said.

In the booming civil aviation field, professional engineering service providers are as rare as morning stars. A relevant person in charge of the Future Angel Investment Department of Nanjing Venture Capital Group admitted: “We have contacted many technology providers and manufacturers in the aviation field, but targets like Aokun with professional service capabilities are quite scarce. The company not only has a first-mover advantage but also has assembled a top-tier technical team in the industry; more importantly, it has already formed a considerable business scale.”

图片5.png

In recent years, Aokun Technology has maintained a momentum of rapid growth in its performance. In 2024, the company's revenue reached tens of millions of yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 76%. As Nanjing has listed the low-altitude economy as a key development industry, Aokun Technology, relying on its unique technological advantages, has become a benchmark project prioritized for introduction by Pukou District.

"Now is the best era for China's aviation industry," Xiao Fei sighed with emotion. Currently, the domestic large aircraft industry and the low-altitude economy are in a historic stage of vigorous rise. The central government and local governments at all levels have launched various policies and plans to promote the development of the aviation industry. A large number of aviation professionals have joined the upsurge of entrepreneurship, a great deal of social capital has been invested in this field, the application speed of new technologies has accelerated significantly, the entire aviation industrial chain has grown rapidly, and various new projects and new models have emerged like mushrooms after rain.

Industry insiders predict that in the next 7-10 years, the domestic large aircraft and low-altitude industries will see a large number of new aircraft, airborne systems, power devices, etc. in the stage of development and small-batch production. The demand of aviation manufacturing enterprises for aviation engineering services such as airworthiness certification, test flights, and engineering R&D will show the characteristics of rigidity, high frequency, and high added value, and a 100-billion-yuan blue ocean industry is gradually opening up.

Xiao Fei noticed that technologies and funds from many industries are accelerating into the aviation field, greatly promoting the development of the industry. "The traditional aviation industry used to be a field where 'one sword is forged in ten years', but now the development speed in the low-altitude economy field can be described as 'covering a thousand miles a day'," he said with a smile. "This is just like the new energy vehicle industry 10-15 years ago, where new brands and new players emerged almost every day. This industrial wave has brought a lot of opportunities to Aokun Technology, and at the same time, it has also put forward higher requirements for our service capabilities and technological iteration."

On the one hand, the company will continue to promote the transformation of innovative achievements, enabling new products and technologies of multiple categories and models to quickly achieve commercialization. Through the continuously expanded "toolbox", it will provide customers with more comprehensive solutions; on the other hand, Aokun Technology adheres to developing businesses with "strong aviation attributes" and focuses on segmented fields with high technological thresholds and high profit margins.

In Xiao Fei's view, the market for small and medium-sized UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) under 150 kg is already "overcrowded", while the market for large UAVs over several hundred kg and manned aircraft is in a stage of fierce competition among numerous players. The system complexity of these "big guys" increases exponentially, with high airworthiness standards and strict safety requirements, which is exactly the main battlefield where Aokun Technology can give full play to its strengths.

"Nanjing Innovation Investment Group has provided great support for the landing of our project in Nanjing," Xiao Fei said. "My strongest impression of Nanjing Venture Capital is its professionalism and efficiency. Both the investment team and the financial and legal due diligence team have left me with a deep sense of professionalism, and the leadership's decision-making speed is very fast. It took less than 40 days from the project approval to the final review, which has given us more confidence in developing our business in Nanjing."

Consolidating the industrial foundation with professional services and breaking technical barriers with innovative solutions, Aokun Technology is opening up a unique path for private enterprises in the aviation field filled with giants, and also enabling this blue sky to nurture a more diversified and dynamic industrial ecosystem.

Source: Venture Capital Group
Review: Xue Yao
Release: You Yi