Urban Air Mobility (UAM) company Volocopter has raised an additional USD 182 million in the second signing of the Series E funding round which will go towards commercial certification of its electric passenger aircraft, the VoloCity air taxi.
NEOM, the Red Sea’s smart, cognitive region project, and Hong Kong’s GLy Capital Management have joined the company’s diverse investor base to finance the introduction of urban air mobility with Volocopter.
The company believes its unique and holistic UAM ecosystem approach can connect all key global market players as it strives to get the UAM industry off the ground. This includes developing multipurpose electric aircraft to bring passengers and goods safely to their destination (the VoloCity, VoloRegion, and VoloDrone), and enabling 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,” said Dirk Hoke, CEO of Volocopter. “This is the key requirement to launching commercial operations and starting to generate revenue.”
As the first and only 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,” said Christian Bauer, CCO of Volocopter. “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.”
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,” said Florian Lennert, Head of Mobility, NEOM. “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 realizing this exciting mission jointly with Volocopter and its global partners.”
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,” said Hrvoje Krkalo, Co-CEO of GLy Capital. “I look forward to supporting their journey; a journey that promises to be exciting, safe, and scenic in equal measure.”
With many interested companies having passed the due diligence phase, Volocopter’s Series E funding round remains open.
