Makani
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Makani was an airborne wind energy company founded in 2006 by a group of kiteboarders, developing power-generating kites with onboard rotors that flew to hundreds of meters altitude where winds are stronger and steadier. Google acquired the company in 2013 and it became a moonshot project in Alphabet's X lab, later spun out as an independent Alphabet company in 2019. Its technology advanced from a 20kW demonstrator to a utility-scale 600kW energy kite system.
02 / Makani FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Despite strong technical progress - including the first flights of a utility-scale energy kite system from a floating platform off the Norwegian coast in partnership with Shell in August 2019 - the road to commercialization proved longer and riskier than hoped. Under pressure to cut Other Bets losses, Alphabet shut Makani down on February 19, 2020. Shell declined to continue developing the intellectual property, the company closed for good in September 2020, and X made a non-assertion pledge releasing Makani's patents, designs, software and research to the public.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Makani was founded by kiteboarders to explore using kites to unlock wind energy at altitude.
- Acquired by Google
Google acquired Makani, which became a moonshot project in the X lab.
- Independent company and Shell partnership
Makani spun out of X as an independent Alphabet company and partnered with Shell, demonstrating utility-scale energy kite flights from a floating platform off Norway.
- Shutdown
Alphabet shut Makani down on February 19, 2020; Shell declined to continue the technology; the company closed permanently in September 2020 with its patents released publicly.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Founded 2006; acquired by Google 2013; became an X moonshot and later an independent Alphabet company.
- 02
Technology scaled from a 20kW demonstrator to a 600kW utility-scale energy kite system.
- 03
Shell partnership from February 2019; first offshore flights from a floating platform off Norway in August 2019.
- 04
February 19, 2020: Alphabet announced the shutdown; Shell explored but declined to continue the technology.
- 05
September 2020: Makani Technologies announced final closure; X issued a non-assertion pledge on the patent portfolio.
- 06
No reliable loss figure disclosed.