Germany-based electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle developer Volocopter secured $170m today in a series E round featuring industrial and consumer technology producer Honeywell.
Diversified holding company WP Investment led the round, which was filled out by transport infrastructure-focused investment holding company Atlantia, Whysol Investments and Btov Partners at a post-money valuation of $1.87bn.
Founded in 2011, Volocopter is developing a series of aircraft designed for urban air mobility and claims to be the only eVTOL company to have received design organisation approval from the European Union’s Aviation Safety Agency.
Proceeds from the round will be used to help Volocopter certify its vehicles as it seeks to launch commercially in cities including Rome, Paris and Singapore. It has now disclosed $558m in funding altogether.
Atlantia previously invested in the company’s $240m series D round a year ago, alongside telecommunications firm NTT and chipmaker Intel (though NTT Venture Capital and Intel Capital respectively), contract pharmaceutical manufacturer Klocke Holding, leasing services firm Tokyo Century and automotive component producer Continental.
Volocopter closed its $94m series C round in early 2020 with backing from rail operator Deutsche Bahn’s DB Schenker unit and insurance group MS&AD’s Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance and MS&AD Ventures subsidiaries in addition to automotive manufacturer Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.
While still nascent, the eVTOL and air taxi sector contains some ambitious players. Wisk, which received a $450m investment from aerospace manufacturer Boeing in January this year, is going straight to automated vehicles, arguing it is the fastest way for the industry to scale, as omitting drivers means lower operating costs and therefore lower prices.
The fact the technology is not yet commercially viable has not stopped eVTOL companies from entering the public markets.
Vertical Aerospace agreed a $2.2bn reverse merger in June 2021 with Broadstone Acquisition Group backed by a private placement featuring Honeywell, air carrier American Airlines, aircraft leasing service Avolon, aerospace and automotive manufacturer Rolls-Royce, industrial group Standard Industries and software provider Microsoft.
Joby had signed up to a $6.6bn reverse takeover with special purpose acquisition company Reinvent Technology Partners four months earlier as it prepared a prototype of its own eVTOL model. Its investors include Intel, airline operator JetBlue, carmaker Toyota and on-demand ride provider Uber.
Regarding its own plans, Volocopter chief commercial officer Christian Bauer said: “Volocopter has spectacular investors from around the globe, which puts us in an excellent position to focus on our first-to-certification and first-to-market strategies before we embark on the path to public listing.”
Image courtesy of Volocopter GmbH.
