Volocopter lands another $182 million in second signing of Series E round
In the second signing of its Series E fundraising round, Volocopter has received an additional USD 182 million. NEOM, the Red Sea's smart, cognitive area initiative, and Hong Kong's GLy Capital Management have joined Volocopter's broad investor base. This will allow the firm to expand its operations beyond the certification of its electric passenger aircraft, the VoloCity air taxi.
Sustainable mobility is a tremendous challenge facing today's world. Volocopter provides a novel solution in the form of a series of totally electric aircraft designed exclusively for urban operations. Importantly, Volocopter's unique and comprehensive UAM ecosystem strategy unites all important global market actors as it works to establish the industry. This involves building multifunctional electric aircraft to securely transport passengers and commodities (the VoloCity, VoloRegion, and VoloDrone) and allowing the physical and digital infrastructure to match (the VoloPort and VoloIQ).
"Attracting NEOM and GLy as investors is a great success and highlights our pole position in the commercial certification race. This is the key requirement to launching commercial operations and starting to generate revenue," Dirk Hoke, CEO, Volocopter.
Volocopter is a UAM leader, with over ten years of development experience and upward of 1,500 successful test flights to its name. As 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 expects to launch its first commercial air taxi routes in the next two years in megacities like Singapore, Rome, Paris, and the NEOM region.
"Raising over USD 180 million despite the generally tense economic climate highlights Volocopter's robust technology strategy and its ongoing progress toward achieving market readiness. We appreciate the remarkable spirit of collaboration and the trust that our existing and new shareholders have placed in us as we forge ahead on our journey to bring the urban air mobility ecosystem to life," Christian Bauer, CCO, Volocopter.
Volocopter and NEOM signed a joint venture (JV) company in December 2021, becoming strategic partners with a view to integrating the VoloCity air taxi and the VoloDrone into NEOM's sustainable, smart, and seamlessly connected mobility systems. The JV will design, integrate, and operate the region's all-electric public flight routes for the initial seven years post-launch.
"At Neom we strongly believe in the potential for urban air mobility to provide a new dimension to future integrated transport systems. Building on our successful collaboration with Volocopter, we are excited to strengthen our partnership and to make a strategic investment in the future of mobility. We believe Volocopter is the best partner to build an advanced air mobility ecosystem in Neom. We look forward to realising this exciting mission jointly with Volocopter and its global partners," Florian Lennert, Head of Mobility, NEOM.
GLy is backed by Geely Holding, a long-term partner of Volocopter. In their joint venture, Geely and Volocopter aim to bring UAM to China. With its high density of megacities, China is expected to become one of the largest markets for electric air taxis.
"Volocopter's vision encompasses industrial short- and medium-range commercial passenger applications to bring efficiency to the way we move around our cities. I look forward to supporting their journey; a journey that promises to be exciting, safe, and scenic in equal measure," Hrvoje Krkalo, Co-CEO of GLy Capital.