Airspeeder makes new appointments ahead of Grand Prix season start

Alauda, the performance electric flying car company and its racing series, Airspeeder is delighted to announce key senior level expansion.

The growth, following a significant round of VC investment places the rapidly developing electric flying car racing series on a third continent, with the introduction of a Partnerships function in the United States and the recruitment of a Global Head of Media at the firm’s commercial HQ in London.

Stephen Sidlo, Airspeeder’s new Head of Media will work with Chief Commercial Officer, Jack Withinshaw and will interface between the new North American Regional Centre and the firm’s Technical HQ in Adelaide, Australia.

Stephen Sidlo, Head of Media, London

Stephen Sidlo joins Airspeeder with a wealth of experience building audiences for both technology firms and pioneering global sporting entities. Sidlo’s approach harnesses the power of data to shape content production strategy and will work with Airspeeder’s existing partners to maximise engagement from collaborative activations.

His most recent role as Head of Media at Arrival saw him articulate a vision to help cities develop sustainable transportation ecosystems. Prior to this he built global audiences for Roborace, the world’s first racing series for humans and artificial intelligence.

Roborace echoes Airspeeder’s mission to hasten the future of mobility through sporting competition. Whilst there he found much success executing a content rich strategy, building a global and highly engaged audience across multiple channels.

A career spent working in new media, sport and entertainment perfectly places Sidlo to grow Airspeeder’s audience as it builds towards being an entirely self-owned global broadcast entity.

Sidlo has worked across multiple rights-holder properties including Formula E, Goodwood, Gran Turismo and World Rugby. He is a proven driver of media value for partners through content strategies, including major activations for Mastercard at Goodwood and Volkswagen at Roborace. This approach speaks of Airspeeder’s commitment to maximising the value its commercial and technical partners gain from alignment with the world’s first electric flying car racing series.

As an Award winning digital media practitioner, he will build an enviable media and production team to shape a new sport and entertainment property that is watched by millions across multiple devices.

“Airspeeder stands at the confluence of technical progress and the thrill of a next generation motorsport. It promises to become one of the most compelling sporting and technological entities in the world and am I proud to steward its success by building a highly engaged global audience.”

Harry Neuhaus, Partnerships Lead, New York City.

Harry Neuhaus is a pioneer in partnerships and sales for established and emerging brands, focusing on both revenue generation and awareness building. He has over 25 years of experience in sponsorship development, broadcast and digital media sales and branded entertainment initiatives across a range of industries.

“Brands are already seeing the potential to align themselves with the foundations of a mobility revolution. Airspeeder will become the most exciting motorsport entity on the planet with a purpose far beyond sporting entertainment. I am proud to be part of such a significant agent of progress.”

Most recently, Neuhaus was the Head of Global Partnerships at the Drone Racing League (DRL). As one of DRL’s earliest employees, he was instrumental in securing Allianz’s title sponsorship and Swatch’s DRL try-outs sponsorship. Additionally, Neuhaus brought iconic brands such as Anheuser Busch, BMW, Cox, Seagate and US Air Force to DRL as partners and sponsors and played a critical role in Lockheed Martin’s partnership for the Artificial Intelligence race series.

Jack Withinshaw, CCO, Airspeeder comments “As we draw closer to Airspeeder’s historic first GP races, our sponsorship base from brands inside the traditional motorsport world and beyond is growing at pace. The time is now right to create a permanent base in the United States to develop relationships with brands who wish to align themselves with the most exciting future motorsport on the planet.”