Meet the 8 electric aviation startups poised to blow past the jet age and modernize air travel and logistics, according to industry experts

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• More than 220 electric aircraft aviation startups are working to develop low-emission flight programs.
• Ranging from full-size jetliners, to private business jets, urban mobility air taxis, and freight and delivery solutions, each of the companies is years away from introducing their products to the market, although some are closer than others.
• Business Insider spoke with VCs and industry experts who shared a few of the companies they're most excited about.

Crossing oceans and continents in aircraft fueled by electricity is decades away, at best, but that doesn't mean that electric air travel will remain a pipe dream until then.

A veritable horde of startups are working to get battery-powered aircraft off the ground, and a number of them are making progress towards electric aircraft that can help people navigate cities, travel to meetings, deliver and receive packages, and soon, even take commercial regional flights with a fraction of the emissions produced by today's passenger planes.

This is a nascent market, but recent advances in battery and computer technologies have made it a popular one: more than 220 companies are competing to deliver the tech that will mark the end of the jet age and usher in a new era.

Business Insider asked consultants and venture capitalists to share the top electric aviation startups worth keeping an eye on, including Kirsten Bartok Touw of AirFinance Capital, Dean Donovan of DiamondStream Partners, and Robert Thomson of Roland Berger.

While each stressed that it's difficult to discuss these startups as a monolith — there are many markets to mine here, including cargo transport, urban mobility, autonomy, light aircraft, and jet aircraft — several still emerge as strong contenders worth watching.

Here are the big ones to watch.