Wingcopter secures fresh funding, strengthens leadership

European drone technology company Wingcopter has secured further funding from a new investor, Copenhagen-based Nordic Secondary Fund, as well as from existing shareholders and the European Investment Bank.

"Two primary factors convinced the investors to provide additional capital: Wingcopter's progress in obtaining type certification for widespread commercial use of its delivery drones in the US, Brazil and Japan, as well as its business expansion through the entry into the field of drone-based surveying of critical infrastructure using state-of-the-art laser scanners (LiDAR)," reads the release. 

Wingcopter was founded in 2017 by Tom Plümmer, Jonathan Hesselbarth, and Ansgar Kadura and has since grown into a leading European technology company for unmanned systems and services. For the upcoming growth phase, the company is now bringing in additional executives with extensive experience. Their support will help drive the transition to mass production of the main product, the Wingcopter 198, and its global commercialisation, as well as capitalise on the promising opportunities in both logistics and the new business area of aerial data collection.

Bernhard Klumpp, a seasoned automotive industry manager, has joined the company as Co-CEO and Chief Product Officer, bringing decades of general management and production scaling experience in different roles at Continental to the table. Klumpp becomes the third Managing Director of Wingcopter alongside Tom Plümmer (Co-CEO) and Jonathan Hesselbarth (CTO).

Tobias Jordan joins as Chief Financial Officer to further develop Wingcopter’s strategic finance function. Jordan looks back at an impressive 21-year track record in technology investment banking at Credit Suisse before overseeing the growth of electric mobility startup Dance as CFO.

Tom Plümmer, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Wingcopter, emphasises: “Europe needs technology champions more than ever. With the new financing and strengthening of our leadership team, we look to the future with confidence, firmly believing that we have the potential to become such a champion and bring this potential to full fruition together. Both Bernhard and Tobias have invaluable knowledge and experience in scaling companies – Bernhard in the industrial environment, Tobias on the financial side. Having laid a solid foundation over the past few years, we will now literally rise to new heights from this launchpad.”

Peter Sandberg, Founding Partner and Managing Director at Nordic Secondary Fund, comments: “By enabling sustainable instant deliveries and the efficient inspection of critical infrastructure through aerial laser scanning, Wingcopter addresses two rapidly growing markets with the same multi-purpose platform. Developing high-tech drone technology in Europe to tackle critical challenges for global customers not only demonstrates technical excellence but also makes an important contribution to a stronger and more sustainable European future.”