Hunch Mobility (FlyBlade (India)) is to go public by merging with special purpose acquisition company Direct Selling Acquisition Corp. The newly combined company is expected to be called Hunch Technologies Limited, with common shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol 'HNCH'.

Hunch Mobility is an urban air mobility platform dedicated to providing by-the-seat, short distance air mobility services in India. The company has operated more than 1,626 flights with an approximately 43 per cent repeat flying rate and has launched its services in two states: Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The operator has plans to acquire 150 Jaunt Journey aircraft, with options on another 100 of its aircraft. It is also planning to launch eVTOL operations in Bangalore with Eve Air Mobility; the companies are working with local, state, and federal officials, and IT technology and service providers, to ensure the appropriate infrastructure is in place. Blade India signed a purchase order for up to 200 electric aircraft from Embraer's Eve back in September 2022.

Hunch MD Amit Dutta says: "India's rapid economic growth is shackled by severe road congestion, a crippling bottleneck requiring innovative solutions. To address this opportunity, Hunch Mobility is pioneering a short-haul air mobility platform with helicopters today, and a transition to eVTOLs in the near future. We expect that this business combination will enable us to fully leverage the gains of our first-mover advantage and aggressively expand our footprint in the Indian subcontinent."

Dave Wentz, chairman and chief executive officer of DSAQ, adds: "Hunch is providing a solution for a serious problem in India, which is one of the most congested traffic markets in the world. The company's ability to provide consumers with the option of avoiding this congestion, at a reasonable price point, has the potential to move by-the-seat helicopter transportation out of the luxury category and into a ubiquitous part of everyday life."

Investment highlights include:

- Significant opportunity for disruptive transportation service in India: Urban congestion costs in India are approximately $22 billion per year, and continuous congestion issues present a growing addressable and serviceable market. The International Monetary Fund predicts that India will become the third largest economy as measured by GDP by 2027-2028, and Hunch Mobility expects to tap into the country's growing middle-class demographic. Hunch Mobility believes there will be an addressable market of at least 20 million flyers in 2027 based on current ticket fares and demographic trends.

- Expanding global UAM market: UAM is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of approximately 25 per cent between 2018 and 2025 and continue to grow to an anticipated market size of $74 billion by 2035. Countries around the world, including Germany and France, are working in collaboration with airline manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus to invest heavily in the development and procurement of advanced EVA systems.

- Differentiated, asset-light and low-capital operations model: Hunch Mobility leverages the scalable technology platform of Blade Urban Air Mobility through a licensing agreement and strategic partnerships with transportation service providers to provide efficient booking and concierge services to the Indian market. The firm's captive strategic infrastructure and sophisticated technology platform are designed to be customised and deployed for Indian operations.

- Tenured management team and early market entrants: Hunch Mobility's management team has over 100 combined years of experience across companies in the mobility, aviation and lifestyle verticals. Hunch Mobility's leadership believes that its early entry into the market provides a meaningful first-mover advantage while the barriers to entry remain high for potential competitors.

- Robust future growth plans: Hunch Mobility is seeking to generate revenue through a diverse set of complementary business segments, including a UAM platform for business, leisure, religious and air ambulance needs, and a lifestyle concierge platform that includes a rewards and privileges platform designed to drive customer retention and monetisation.

- Strategic partnerships in the eVTOL market expected to propel growth: Hunch Mobility has signed a memorandum of understanding with Eve Air Mobility, Beta Technologies, Skyports and Jaunt Air Mobility to develop the company's eVTOL capabilities. Hunch Mobility believes that these partnerships are poised to unlock growth opportunities in existing and new markets, and expects the launch of eVTOLs with lower costs to drive market penetration to five per cent of the addressable market of 50 million flyers.

The combined company is expected to have an estimated post-transaction enterprise value of $223 million. DSAQ and Hunch Mobility's boards of directors have unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to close in 2024. Hunch Mobility's shareholders are rolling 100 per cent of their existing equity into the combined company and are expected to own approximately 52.0 per cent of the combined company on a non-fully diluted basis immediately following the closing of the transaction.