To certification and beyond: Volocopter raises a further $182m

Volocopter has raised an additional $182m from the second signing of its Series E funding round. 

This latest capital raise will carry the company beyond the VoloCity’s certification, according to the German OEM. Notable investors include Neom – the Red Sea’s smart region project – and Hong Kong-based GLy Capital Management.

As the only eVTOL company to have received design organisation approval (DOA) from EASA, Volocopter said it expects to launch its first commercial air taxi routes in the next two years in cities like Singapore, Paris, and the Neom region.  

Dirk Hoke, CEO of Volocopter said: “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.”

 Volocopter and Neom signed a joint venture (JV) in December 2021, with a view to integrating the VoloCity air taxi and the VoloDrone into Neom’s cities. The JV will design, integrate, and operate the region’s public flight routes for the first seven years post-launch.  

Florian Lennert, Head of Mobility of Neom, said: “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 AAM ecosystem in Neom. We look forward to realising 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.

Hrvoje Krkalo, Co-CEO of GLy Capital, said: “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.”

Christian Bauer, CCO of Volocopter, added: “Raising over $180m despite the generally tense economic climate highlights Volocopter’s robust technology strategy and its ongoing progress toward achieving market readiness.” 

With many interested companies having passed the due diligence phase, Volocopter’s Series E funding round remains open.

The firm recently completed the first crewed eVTOL flight in Italy when it took off from Fiumicino’s Leonardo da Vinci International Airport near Rome last month.