Reliable Robotics has been working for nearly a decade to commercialize autonomous flying technology that can be installed on existing aircraft. Now, with a $115 million funding boost, the Mountain View, California-based startup has a longer runway as it pushes to get its autonomous flight system certified by the Federal Aviation Administration — a critical milestone that co-founder and CEO Robert Rose said the startup is inching toward.

The financing is an extension of its Series D round and includes $90 million in equity funding led by Nimble Partners and $25 million in debt from Silicon Valley Bank. The Series D round, which now totals $275 million, has pushed the startup’s valuation beyond the $1 billion mark. Other investors include Gideon Strategic Partners, RockCreek, Geek Ventures, Gold Hill Capital, Sparkwave Capital and others. Reliable has raised $380 million to date.

“We continue to make steady progress and deliver evidence to the FAA and every day, we inch closer and closer,” said Rose, a former director of flight software at SpaceX who has also had stints at Tesla and Google. Reliable co-founder and CTO Juerg Frefel is also a SpaceX veteran who spent nearly a decade there as an engineer.

And in aviation — one of the most regulated industries in the world — moving toward certification of new technology is progress.

Reliable Robotics is working to gain FAA certification on four fronts, all of which are linked to its goal of autonomous flight.

Its first product, called continuous autopilot engagement, handles the engine startup, taxiing, takeoff, and landing for the pilot, who remains in the aircraft and interacts with the autonomous flight system through a touchscreen.

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