Wisk Aero buys software company Verocel

Advanced Air Mobility company Wisk Aero has confirmed this week it has acquired Verocel Inc., a software verification and validation firm.  

Verocel’s unique expertise in supporting the certification of high-integrity aerospace software and the qualification of V&V tools will play a key role in Wisk’s ongoing effort to certify its Generation 6 autonomous, electric air taxi.

For the past 25 years, the Verocel team has been leading the V&V of high-integrity software products within the aerospace industry. The team has deep expertise in DO-178C and are members of industry standards committees for high-integrity software including RTCA/Special Committee, EUROCAE Working Group, and the FAA's Overarching Properties Working Group. Additionally, the qualified Verocel toolset – VeroTrace – provides a baseline for software certification requirements definition, tracking, and FAA submittals. This specialty expertise creates an enduring capability at Wisk that supports both the certification of the Generation 6 aircraft as well as future software developments at The Boeing Company.

“High-integrity software development is critical for our mission to certify an autonomous, electric aircraft with V&V being a significant portion of the total software certification effort,” said Brian Yutko, Wisk CEO. “Verocel’s specialized and talented team will bring with them deep experience and rigor, helping to accelerate our autonomous certification project that is already well underway. We are thrilled to have this talented team join Wisk!”

Verocel was founded in 1999 and has a proven history with over 160 projects for 25+ customers including previous work with The Boeing Company. In addition to software development and V&V services, Verocel also develops and produces the safety computers for the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), an air navigation system that enhances GPS accuracy and integrity to enable aircraft to safely navigate all over the world today. Over 50 highly specialized software engineers, based in Westford Massachusetts and Poznan, Poland, join Wisk through this acquisition.

“Wisk is a perfect alignment for Verocel, both in the long and short term,” said Jim Chelini, President of Verocel. “Not only is this a chance to directly apply our expertise to the certification of a groundbreaking technology, but this is also an incredible opportunity for Verocel talent to excel within Wisk and the broader Boeing ecosystem long term.”

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