US-based sustainable aircraft developer Universal Hydrogen has received $62m in an oversubscribed funding round that included a host of corporate investors.
Internet technology group Tencent was among the investors in the round, as were charter plane operator Waltzing Matilda Aviation and GE Aviation, the aircraft engine manufacturing arm of industrial product conglomerate General Electric.
The round also featured Mitsubishi HC Capital, a vehicle resulting from a merger earlier this year between leasing services firm Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance and Hitachi Capital, a financial services arm of electronics manufacturer Hitachi.
Hawktail Management, 75 & Sunny Ventures, Fourth Realm, Stratos Ventures, Time Ventures and Jeff Wilke filled out the new participants in the round, which the company said included most of the participants in its April 2021 series A round.
Universal Hydrogen is working on hydrogen-fuelled aircraft designed to reduce carbon emissions in commercial flights in the logistics industry. It is also creating a conversion kit to help previous aeroplanes adopt its hydrogen-electric technology.
The company has now raised $85m since it was founded in 2020. It secured $20.5m in the April round, which was led by Playground Global and backed by investors including conglomerate Sojitz and fuel cell technology developer Plug Power.
Aerospace manufacturer Airbus, airline operator JetBlue, carmaker Toyota and mining group Fortescue Metals contributed to the series A round through Airbus Ventures, JetBlue Technology Ventures, Toyota Ventures (then Toyota AI Ventures) and Fortescue Future Industries respectively.
Coatue, Global Founders Capital and Future Shape also took part in the series A round while Trucks Venture Capital was identified as a participant in the latest announcement.
