LOS ANGELES, July 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Skyryse, a transportation company building the future of general aviation, has announced the appointment of its first Chief Financial Officer, Stephen Koo, and its new Chief Operating Officer, Justin Ryan. Both leaders will be based out of Skyryse's headquarters in El Segundo, CA.

"Our skies are ready to welcome more people and more packages if we can make flying safer and more intuitive, and welcoming these two new leaders brings us another step closer to that," said Dr. Mark Groden, Skyryse's founder and CEO. "With his diverse financial experience across public and private companies, Stephen will help Skyryse pioneer new business models for the transportation industry. Justin knows firsthand the challenges of piloting and the challenges of this industry, and his extensive aviation work with civilian and military organizations will make our FlightOS system even stronger."

Prior to joining Skyryse, Koo served as the CFO of NEOGOV, a market-leading provider of HR and policy management SaaS solutions for the public sector where he oversaw rapid growth, as well as the CFO of INNOVA Gaming Group, a gaming technology supplier that he helped take public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2015. Earlier in his career, he worked for many years as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, advising technology, media and telecommunication clients on a variety of strategic and capital raising activities.

"At this point in my career, what drives me is a powerful mission and team," said Koo. "The more I got to know Mark and everyone at Skyryse, the more I appreciated what a rare opportunity this is to be part of something revolutionary. I truly believe this company can execute on their mission to make flying safer, and I am excited to build the internal infrastructure to help Skyryse reach those heights."

Ryan will serve as Chief Operating Officer, overseeing Skyryse's operations across all functions of business development, engineering, operations, product and marketing. He started his career as a Navy jet pilot and then worked at McKinsey for several years before focusing on the aerospace industry. Notably, Ryan was the Vice President of Honeywell's Airbus Business Segment where he led the company's initiative to develop more than 200 pieces of equipment for the A350. He has since founded manufacturing and aerospace equipment companies and also serves on the board of Tamarack Aerospace Group. He flies frequently in his Beechcraft Baron.

"As an aerospace veteran, I was skeptical about another technology startup trying to revolutionize air mobility, but I was quickly proven wrong with Skyryse," said Ryan. "Skyryse's FlightOS system will change outcomes when lives are at stake, tackle the pilot shortage we're facing and finally bring commercial aviation-level safety to general aviation. Fly-by wire has delivered proven safety benefits in air transport aircraft, and now we're taking that technology to general aviation, coupled with revolutionary, easy to use flight controls and flight deck. The industry is ready for simpler, safer systems so we can always fly like the most experienced pilots on their best days."

Skyryse has tripled its headcount over the past year and now has partnerships with five of the world's largest fixed wing and rotorcraft original equipment manufacturers, which collectively produce over half of the world's new general aviation aircraft. The company also recently signed a partnership with Air Methods, one of the nation's largest EMS helicopter operators, to retrofit their fleet with FlightOS.

About Skyryse

Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, Skyryse is a transportation technology company built by transportation experts from Airbus, Boeing, Ford, General Atomics, JetBlue, Moog, SpaceX, Tesla, Uber, the U.S. Military and Zoox. The company is building the future of general aviation, and its flagship automation technology, FlightOS, enables anyone to fly in any aircraft, just as safely as the best pilots in the world on their best day. Skyryse has raised $250 million to date and is backed by leading investors including Fidelity Management & Research Company, Monashee Investment Management, ArrowMark Partners, Venrock, Eclipse Ventures, Cantos, Stanford University, and Bill Ford, the executive chairman of Ford Motor Company. For more information, visit www.skyryse.com

CONTACT: skyryse@missionnorth.com