German-based urban air mobility pioneer, Volocopter has picked up $170 million in the initial signing of the Series E funding round. This investment round was led by its new investor WP Investment from South Korea. Another new investor -Honeywell and existing investors including btov Partners that invested in Flytrex and Sharpist, Whysol, and Atlantia participated in the round.
How will Volocopter use the funds?
With this investment, Volocopter has reached a pre-money valuation of $1.7 billion. The company will deploy the proceeds for the certification of its electric passenger air taxi. Also, it is expected to help Volocopter launch commercially in its first global markets.
Once aircraft certification has been achieved, the financing agreement with Aviation Capital Group will allow Volocopter to offer its operating entities and customers worldwide attractive leasing options, which is a key to rapidly scaling the business in the future.
Besides fundraising, Volocopter and WP Investment will enter into a strategic partnership by creating a joint venture that will soon bring urban air mobility to South Korea’s cities.
“This funding round is a testament to Volocopter’s leading position in what is a highly attractive emerging market. We continue to make significant technical and commercial progress as we work toward bringing urban air mobility to life at scale in cities worldwide,” said Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter.
Christian Bauer, CCO of Volocopter, 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. I’m excited to accelerate our path to commercial launch together with investors, partners, and the phenomenal Volocopter team!”
“We are confident that Volocopter will be among the first to bring UAM to cities globally, since seeing its aircraft fly in Seoul last year. As a leader in ESG investment, we are excited to empower city sustainability through Volocopter,” says Dr. Lei Wang, Chairman of WP Investment. Co-Chairman Tiffany Park said: “We are excited to kick off our joint venture and be the first to establish sustainable eVTOL logistics and air taxi services with Volocopter in Korea.”
“We decided to strengthen our investment in Volocopter because we strongly believe in its ability to rapidly bring to life this innovative and sustainable mobility,” said Elisabetta De Bernardi, Investment Director Europe for Atlantia. “We will continue to promote urban air mobility, a fast-growing business that can help reduce emissions and traffic in large cities.”
“Our successful first signing of Series E brings phenomenal new investors on board, with further in the due diligence stage. This private funding round allows us to stay focused on our mission to bring sustainable urban air mobility to life,” said Stefan Klocke, Chairman of Volocopter’s Advisory Board. “We have never been in a stronger position: we are financially diversified, certification of the aircraft is within reach, and we are demonstrating our advanced capabilities by public flights and strong joint-ventures across the world.”
Pioneer in the era of UAMs
Founded in 2011 by Alexander Zosel and Stephan Wolf in Bruchsal, Germany, Volocopter will launch commercial services within the next few years. It is the first and only electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) company to receive Design Organisation Approval (DOA) from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
Volocopter brings urban air mobility (UAM) to megacities worldwide by creating sustainable and scalable UAM ecosystems. Its eVTOL aircrafts including VoloCity and VoloConnect for passengers and VoloDrone for goods offer swift, secure, and emission-free connections to their destinations, supported by VoloIQ, the UAM ecosystem’s software platform.
The company has performed several milestone flights in Helsinki, Stuttgart, Dubai, and over Singapore’s Marina Bay in recent years. While the first routes are yet to be announced, the company is committed to establishing air taxi services in Singapore and Paris, with plans to expand many more routes in the US, Asia, and Europe.
