Advisory
For Fuel Technology
Companies
Strategy, positioning, and commercial enablement for companies at the intersection of technology readiness and market entry.
The path from credible product to signed agreement remains frustratingly slow.
The sustainable aviation fuel sector has never had more momentum. Mandates are in place. Airlines have made public commitments. Investors are paying attention. The technology is ready. And yet for most fuel technology companies, the path from credible product to signed agreement remains frustratingly slow.
Part of the challenge is access — getting in front of the right people at the right moment. But access alone is rarely sufficient. The airline sustainability lead who takes a meeting has taken dozens like it. What determines whether that conversation leads somewhere is rarely the technology — it's whether the company walking in was ready for the room.
That readiness is harder to build than it looks. The right story for the right audience, materials that get forwarded rather than filed, relationships established before the critical moment rather than during it — most fuel technology companies are developing all of this in real time, under pressure, while also trying to run a business.
What makes it harder still: most companies come to us believing they're further along than they are. Part of our value is helping them find where they actually are before spending money in the wrong place. That's not always a comfortable conversation — but it's a more useful one than a proposal that flatters the brief.
We work with fuel technology companies at exactly this junction. We don't promise offtake agreements — no advisor controls board approvals, project finance timelines, or a buyer's internal procurement cycle, and any firm that tells you otherwise is selling something they cannot deliver. What we do is build everything that makes those conversations possible, productive, and more likely to convert.
Four stages. Not every client needs all four.
The work falls into four stages. Not every client needs all four — and most don't start at the beginning. But the logic is sequential: sharpening before entering, entering before converting, and staying in the conversation throughout.
Before approaching any buyer, investor, or regulator, a fuel technology company needs to know exactly who it is, where it sits in the competitive landscape, and what each audience actually needs to hear. Most don't — not because they lack intelligence, but because the external perspective and analytical rigour has never been systematically applied to their specific situation.
The four workstreams below are designed to be used in sequence: diagnosing what's broken before building what's new, understanding where you sit before building what you say, and knowing what you're saying before deciding who to say it to first.
Each deliverable will be accompanied by a working session with your internal team to pressure-test messages against real objections, score markets together, and leave with shared conclusions rather than a document to disagree about later.
Commercial Readiness Audit
The natural starting point — a structured review of your existing commercial materials and public positioning before any new work begins. Most companies are surprised by what this surfaces.
- Review of existing materials: website, investor deck, one-pager, media coverage, any published technical or commercial documentation
- Assessment against a defined set of criteria: audience alignment, narrative consistency across touchpoints, friction points that create confusion or require correction before a conversation can begin
- Gap analysis identifying which of the three workstreams below are most urgently needed — and in what order
- Written audit report with prioritised recommendations
Competitive Positioning Benchmark
A structured analysis of how comparable companies have navigated the same positioning decisions — what worked, what didn't, and what it means for your situation.
- Company benchmark across technology adjacency and positioning strategy dimensions
- Scoring framework applied to one central strategic question (e.g. energy-source branding, category naming, technology vs. product identity)
- Detailed precedent analysis of the most relevant company transitions
- A named strategic framework tailored to your situation (e.g. Story & Standard — separating the origin narrative that opens doors from the commercial identity that closes deals)
- Brand architecture recommendations: platform name criteria, two-tier naming model
- Audience and geography segmentation guidance
- Named next steps with rationale and sequencing
Commercial Narrative System
A structured, audience-segmented messaging system — not a brand guidelines document, but a practical commercial tool your entire team uses consistently, from CEO to press office to licensing partners.
- Lead message, supporting proof points, and conversation starters per audience
- Decision-maker grid within complex audiences — e.g. sustainability vs. procurement vs. finance vs. corporate sales within a single airline
- Objection handling — the questions you will always be asked, with tested responses
- "What we always say / what we avoid" discipline protocol — the boundaries that prevent compression errors and greenwashing risk
- Quick-reference messaging matrix across all audiences in a single table
Market Prioritisation Framework
A repeatable methodology for deciding where to focus commercial resources — which markets, which buyers, in what order, and why — rather than spreading BD effort thinly across every interested party.
SAF producers typically face a version of the same problem: more potentially relevant markets than they can pursue simultaneously, with mandates evolving at different speeds, logistics readiness varying by region, and buyer pressure that doesn't always correlate with regulatory pull. Without a structured approach, BD effort follows the loudest inbound rather than the highest-value opportunity.
- A weighted scorecard across commercial, regulatory, and operational criteria
- A global SAF regulatory reference table — mandate type, current status, and enforcement timeline across the markets that matter
- A per-plant commercial mandate — matching each facility in the pipeline to the markets it should prioritise, and when BD conversations should begin
- A four-scenario interpretation guide — what to do when a market scores high but isn't yet reachable, vs. low-score markets where relationships are already warm
- Scoring trigger events — the regulatory, certification, and operational milestones that should prompt a re-run of the framework
We design three formats for getting fuel technology companies in front of the right people — each requiring a different level of commitment from both the client and the attendees. Most clients start with one and progress to the next.
The SimpliFlying Mastermind
The lightest entry point — 15 to 25 carefully selected stakeholders in a single-sponsor setting alongside a major industry event. Low-risk, non-sales environment where genuine relationships form over a shared meal.
- Targeted stakeholder list curation — who to invite and why, based on commercial priority mapping
- Invitation management and outreach
- Event design: agenda, format, conversation facilitation
- Post-event synthesis and follow-up strategy
Conference Workshops
A half-day session co-located with a major industry event — sponsored by the client, facilitated by SimpliFlying, open to event attendees. Positions the client as the convener of a serious industry conversation rather than just another exhibitor.
- Workshop design aligned with the client's commercial positioning
- Facilitation and agenda management
- Attendee curation where possible; open registration where not
- Post-session synthesis published as a thought leadership asset
- Co-branding and joint amplification
SimpliFlying Immersion
The deepest format — a half-day visit to your facilities for 15–20 carefully selected senior stakeholders. Requires the most commitment from both sides, and produces the strongest shift from interested to genuinely convinced.
- Stakeholder curation and invitation management — every attendee selected against your commercial priorities
- Facility tour and hands-on engagement with your technology
- Custom agenda design built around your specific commercial objective
- Pre-read and briefing materials distributed in advance
- Facilitation that manages mixed-expertise rooms — sustainability leads, procurement teams, and C-suite in the same space
- Post-session action brief with agreed next steps and follow-up framing
Customer Advisory Board
For clients who have already run one or more of the formats above, a Customer Advisory Board is the natural next step — formalising the relationships built through dinners, workshops, and immersions into a structured, ongoing governance programme with real commercial accountability.
A CAB is an exclusive, invite-only forum for senior airline, OEM, airport, and policy stakeholders. It is not a sales pitch or a passive advisory group — it is a strategic two-way dialogue where members get genuine influence over your commercial roadmap, and you get the insights, relationships, and commercial signals that no amount of cold outreach can produce.
- Board composition strategy and member selection criteria across stakeholder types
- Member value proposition design — what they gain, what they commit to
- Tailored outreach and onboarding programme per candidate, including introductory call framework and NDA management
- Quarterly programme architecture: in-person group workshops + virtual 1:1 sessions
- Meeting operations playbook — scheduling protocols, briefing pack format, run-of-show, post-session deliverables
- KPI framework with phased milestones
- 12-month roadmap from first outreach to inaugural session
Where we have direct connections with relevant airline procurement teams, SAF producers, or industry bodies, we facilitate introductions on a case-by-case basis — always paired with the briefing materials and commercial positioning that make those introductions land rather than stall.
Where we don't have a direct relationship, we advise on the best approach and equip you to make it yourself. We are transparent about this distinction because it protects the engagement — and because a well-prepared client approaching the right person in the right way is worth far more than a cold handoff to someone who isn't ready to receive them.
Getting into the right rooms is necessary but not sufficient. The SAF space is full of companies that have had hundreds of encouraging conversations and signed nothing.
The gap between genuine interest and a letter of intent is where most commercial momentum dies — usually because the materials speak the wrong language for the buyer in the room, the outreach doesn't account for how aviation procurement actually works, or the early commercial structure isn't yet bankable enough to move internally.
We close that gap specifically — not with generic sales support, but with tools and advice built around how aviation buyers actually make decisions.
Commercial Enablement Pack
Built per target segment — not a generic deck adapted from a template, but a tool designed for a specific conversation with a specific type of buyer.
Aviation procurement decisions involve multiple stakeholders with different mandates and different objections. A sustainability lead needs to understand carbon intensity and certification pathway. A procurement team needs unit economics and supply reliability. A finance lead needs bankability and downside protection. The same pitch deck fails all three.
- Offtake pitch deck tailored by buyer type — sustainability lead, procurement team, or finance and treasury
- Buyer-segmented one-pager for each priority audience
- Approach strategy per priority target — what to say, in what order, through which channel, based on their mandate exposure and procurement cycle
- Outreach sequence per buyer role — personalised by the questions that buyer is actually being asked internally
- FAQ and objection document for due diligence conversations
- Proof-point document — the evidence that answers the questions buyers ask before they ask them
Channel & Commercial Model Design
For clients ready to think beyond direct bilateral offtake — identifying and designing demand channels that create volume outside mandate-driven procurement.
Direct airline offtake is the most visible route but not always the fastest or most accessible. Corporate Scope 3 programmes, OEM service bundles, charter and private aviation, and loyalty integrations all represent demand channels that move on different timelines and through different decision-makers. For companies with production coming online before large-scale mandate enforcement, these channels can bridge the gap.
- Corporate Scope 3 programme architecture — the full structure for an airline-to-corporate or direct-to-corporate SAF certificate chain. The SBTi framework is expected to recognise SAF certificates for Scope 3 in its next update, making corporate EAC and SAFc buyers an increasingly significant revenue pathway
- Bundling model identification across customer segments — OEM packages, premium cabin, charter, cargo, loyalty
- Channel enablement toolkit — co-branded calculators, template corporate proposals, verification methodology documentation that corporate ESG teams can use directly in their own reporting
- Channel management protocols — sequencing, pricing, and sensitivity guidelines
LOI & Early Commercial Agreement Structuring
Guidance on structuring early commercial agreements in a way that satisfies a sponsor's requirements without overcommitting on timelines or volumes that cannot yet be guaranteed — one of the most common places commercial momentum stalls.
Pre-FID offtake conversations fail in predictable ways: volumes are too large to credibly commit, timelines are too uncertain to fix, and certification is still pending. The result is either an agreement so conditional it has no value, or a delay until conditions improve that never comes. The right structure navigates between them.
- Conditional LOI framework suitable for pre-FID conversations
- Advice on pricing mechanisms, volume structures, and certification contingencies that keep both parties commercially protected
- Due diligence narrative packaging — the commercial story that accompanies a financing conversation
- Guidance on how to sequence early commercial agreements relative to plant milestones and investor requirements
SAF procurement cycles are long. Financing rounds take years. Policy windows open and close. The companies that win are not always the ones that were best positioned at a single moment — they are the ones that remained visible, credible, and relevant throughout.
This is the retainer layer — the ongoing work that runs in parallel with or between the structured engagements above, keeping your company top of mind with the stakeholders who matter most.
We design bespoke programmes built around one question: what do the right people need to keep hearing, seeing, and believing about this company over the next 12 months?
Content Published to SimpliFlying's Audiences
SimpliFlying creates and publishes content featuring the client — their technology, their people, their perspective — directly to an established audience of aviation sustainability decision-makers that most fuel technology companies spend years trying to reach.
- Long-form features, co-authored pieces, and client spotlights on SimpliFlying's Substack (6,000+ email subscribers — airline sustainability leads, aviation executives, SAF ecosystem professionals)
- Amplification via SimpliFlying's LinkedIn (6,000+ followers, same niche)
- Podcast conversations featuring client executives — reaching a self-selected, engaged audience
- Co-branded white papers and reports published across both parties' channels
- Association with books Sustainability in the Air Vol I, II and III — the primary reference text on aviation sustainability, referenced by airlines and OEMs in strategy conversations
Events & Visibility
Be in the right rooms — prepared, positioned, and followed up — between the bigger structured engagements.
- Pre-event preparation — audience intelligence, briefing materials, and sharp talking points before major conferences or panel appearances, so every appearance has a clear objective and a plan for what happens after
- Panel participation and curation — SimpliFlying moderates and curates panels at major industry events, positioning client executives in sessions that reach the right audience
- Conference presence strategy — which events to prioritise, how to show up credibly, how to convert hallway conversations into something that moves
- Curated dinners and side events — keeping the client visible in the right informal settings alongside major conferences
Market Perception & Intelligence
Testing whether any of the above is actually working — and what the market still doesn't understand, believe, or know about you.
Content and events build presence. Research tells you whether presence is translating into the right perceptions — and where the gaps remain. Used well, this workstream closes the loop on the entire retainer cycle: what to say next, which audiences still need convincing, and which messages are landing versus requiring more work.
- Bespoke market surveys — in partnership with ADN Research, properly structured surveys fielded in any market globally, screened for the right audience, built for statistical rigour
- Embedded research — client-specific questions integrated into SimpliFlying's own survey programmes, distributed to 200+ aviation sustainability professionals across key markets
- Policy and demand tracking — periodic snapshots of SAF mandate status, enforcement timelines, and demand signals across priority markets
- Competitor monitoring — tracking how comparable companies are positioning and where the market conversation is shifting
Every engagement is scoped individually.
Designed around where a client actually is and what they need to move forward, not around a fixed package or a predetermined scope. Most clients start with a single focused workstream. Many expand from there.
"We don't match you with whoever picks up the phone. Every engagement is led personally by a senior practitioner."
We do not guarantee offtake agreements, specific pricing outcomes, or introductions to parties with whom we have no existing relationship. We do not provide engineering, process design, or certification advisory. We are transparent about this because it protects the engagement — and because a client who understands exactly what they are buying is a client we can actually deliver for.
A 45-minute call. We listen first — to where you are, what's blocking progress, and what success looks like in 12 months. From there we propose a scoped engagement with a clear deliverable, timeline, and fee. No obligation, no generic proposal template.
18+ years working inside the aviation industry.
SimpliFlying is a strategy and communications firm with 18+ years working inside the aviation industry. Our fuel technology practice sits at the intersection of commercial strategy, industry relationships, and communications expertise — a combination that no generalist agency and no pure strategy firm can replicate.
Ready to find where you actually are?
A 45-minute call. We listen first. From there we propose a scoped engagement with a clear deliverable, timeline, and fee. No obligation, no generic proposal template.
Thank you — we'll be in touch within one business day.