Adrian Schmidt is the Co-Founder & CEO of Sarla Aviation, India’s pioneering urban air mobility startup. What began as a dinner conversation in Munich turned into a bold venture when Adrian joined his colleague and friend, Rakesh Gaonkar, to co-found Sarla in Bengaluru. Both previously worked in Germany’s automotive sector before joining eVTOL pioneer Lilium, where they gained hands-on experience in the future of flight. Under Adrian’s leadership, Sarla Aviation has raised over $12 million from leading investors including Accel, Nikhil Kamath, Sriharsha Majety, and Binny Bansal, and unveiled its full-scale six-seater prototype, Shunya, at the Bharat Mobility Expo 2025 in Delhi. Adrian believes that India’s urgent demand for scalable transportation, combined with a forward-leaning policy environment, makes it the ideal launchpad for aerospace innovation. Under their Co-Founders leadership Sarla Aviation is focused on building a fully indigenous and full-stack aviation product company.