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Kitekraft

Active

Building flying wind turbines.

Summer 2019Founded 20196 peopleMunich, BY, Germany

About

Kitekraft systems consist of a tethered electric aircraft, a.k.a. a kite. The kite has 8 onboard (flying) wind turbines. It autonomously flies in figure eights and generates electrical energy from the wind. Our systems need 10x less construction materials compared to a conventional wind turbine and our systems cost half as much.

From their website

www.kitekraft.de
SaaS

Kitekraft develops airborne wind energy systems that replace traditional towers with tethered aircraft to harvest wind energy. Their vision is to enable a faster, lower-cost expansion of renewables by using lightweight, high-efficiency airborne turbines.

The product uses a small tethered aircraft to harvest wind energy instead of a large rigid wind turbine tower. It aims to deliver electricity with significantly less material, enabling low-cost installations and access to locations previously difficult due to logistics or visual footprint. The system is presented as a next-generation wind power technology that reduces material use and installation complexity while harvesting wind energy remotely via airborne platforms.

Who it’s for: Energy/wuture startups, utilities, and project developers seeking scalable, lower-cost wind power solutions; organizations exploring innovative renewable energy technologies.

Features
  • Airborne wind energy harvesting
  • Low material requirements
  • Reduced logistics footprint
  • Tethered aircraft-based turbine
  • Faster deployment potential
  • Marine/remote feasibility through lightweight design

funding mentions (EU Horizon Europe) and project-level funding details

Founders · 4

Maximilian Isensee
Maximilian IsenseeFounder
🎓 Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Renewable energy engineer. Co-founder of climate NGO "Protect Our Winters Germany". Former start-up consultant at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Working on solving climate change.

Christoph Drexler
Christoph DrexlerCo-Founder
🎓 Technical University🎓 University of Munich. Delved

Graduated in mechanical engineering at Technical University of Munich. Delved into aerodynamics in master thesis optimizing Kitekraft's airfoils. Heavy interest in sustainability and technological advances tackling climate change, to which the solutions lie in the "We", not in the "I".

André Frirdich
André FrirdichFounder
🎓 Technical University🎓 University of Munich. Focused

Aerodynamics engineer, graduated from Technical University of Munich. Focused on aircraft, helicopter, and wind turbine technology. Wrote master thesis about flying wind turbine aerodynamics optimization. Personal motivation powered by the vision of changing the world's energy generation.

Florian Stappenbeck (Bauer)
Florian Stappenbeck (Bauer)Founder
🎓 Technical University🎓 University of Munich. Published

Electrical and control engineer. Electrical Engineering PhD on "Multidisciplinary Optimization of Drag Power Kites" from Technical University of Munich. Published more than a dozen of research papers about flying wind turbine technology. Inventor of 5 patents pending. Passionate about renewable energies and anything that flies.

Formerly kiteKRAFT

IndustrialsEnergyHardwareClimateRenewable Energy

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