Volocopter, a Germany-based company developing unmanned aerial vehicles that will be able to transport passengers, received €29.4m ($34.8m) in funding yesterday from investors including automotive manufacturer Daimler.
The round also featured individual investor Lukasz Gadowski and undisclosed others. Volocopter said in press release it had raised “over €25m” but the precise figure was disclosed in a blog post by Mercedes.
Founded in 2011, Volocopter is working on a large-scale drone for use in passenger transport which will be able to take off and land vertically. The aircraft will be powered electrically and will initially carry two people.
The company intends to begin demonstrating its vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicles before the end of 2017 in partnership with the emirate of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority.
Volocopter, which eventually plans to commercially license the technology worldwide, has not disclosed any earlier funding.
Florian Reuter, Volocopter’s managing director, said: “The strong financial commitment of our new investors is a signal as well as proof of the growing confidence in the newly emerging market for electrically driven VTOLs put to use as personal air taxis.
“We deliberately sought a mix of investors with strategic and entrepreneurial backgrounds and were able to implement this perfectly with Daimler and Lukasz Gadowski.”