FAQ on Cotulla Holdings Co-Leading $3.7M Seed Round for Aviation-Focused Kilsar

What is Kilsar?

Kilsar is a Virginia Beach-based company building an AI-powered platform for aviation maintenance and training, aiming to capture and scale the knowledge of retiring maintainers.

Who co-led the $3.7 million seed round for Kilsar?

The seed round was co-led by Lightbank and New York-based Cotulla Holdings, with participation from Techstars and Lithuania’s Scalewolf.

What is the purpose of the funding for Kilsar?

The funding will be used to expand Kilsar’s engineering and deployment teams, accelerate onboarding across defense and commercial maintenance organizations, and further develop its Orion platform’s real-time AI assistant.

What is the Orion platform?

Orion is Kilsar’s platform that captures expert insights from veteran technicians and transforms complex maintenance procedures into interactive, step-by-step digital workflows to help new learners and active maintainers upskill faster.

Who is Brendan Lawlor?

Brendan Lawlor is the founder and CEO of Kilsar, with a background in AI from James Madison University and previous roles in data & analytics, strategy, and compliance at PRA Group and Mosaic Labs.

What strategic partnership has Kilsar announced?

Kilsar has formed a strategic partnership with the Aviation Institute of Maintenance (AIM) to modernize the training pipeline for the next generation of aviation technicians.

Why is Kilsar’s work important?

Kilsar addresses a crisis in aviation maintenance and related skilled trades, where experienced technicians are aging out and student interest in trades is declining, by revitalizing the sector with its AI-powered platform.

What is Cotulla Holdings?

Cotulla Holdings is a private equity fund founded by Jared L. Solomon, making its first venture investment in Kilsar, and previously ran Cotulla Aviation, a buyout fund targeting the air transportation sector.

How does Kilsar’s platform benefit the aviation industry?

Kilsar’s platform empowers both new learners and active maintainers to upskill faster, reduce time-to-diagnose, and operate with greater confidence and precision by replacing static manuals with searchable, enriched content.