E-commerce firm Amazon and oil and gas provider Shell contributed to a $21.4m series A round for US-based clean aeronautic powertrain developer ZeroAvia yesterday.
The round was co-led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Ecosystem Integrity Fund and included Horizons Ventures and Summa Equity, while Amazon invested through its Climate Pledge Fund and Shell participated through investment vehicle Shell Ventures.
ZeroAvia is working on a hydrogen-electric powertrain for aircraft, initially targeting small 10-to-20 seater planes. It has targeted 2023 to begin commercialising its technology, and the series A proceeds will support product development.
The equity funding was secured as the company got approval for $16.3m in non-dilutive funding from the UK government’s ATI Programme. It said it has now raised a total of $49.7m in equity and grant funding altogether.
Val Miftakhov, ZeroAvia’s founder and chief executive, said: “Both aviation and the financial markets are waking up to the idea that hydrogen is the only meaningful path towards large-scale, zero-emission commercial flight.
“Powering a 100-seat plane on hydrogen is not out of the question. We feel deeply grateful to our top-tier investors for joining us in the next phase of our exciting journey; to bring in a new golden age of aviation.”
