BETA receives $169m EXIM bank financing
BETA Technologies has now received its $169m financing from the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of the US, the bank’s chairwoman Rita Jo Lewis confirmed yesterday.
Announced at the Invest in America event, held as part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, the funding was issued via EXIM’s Make More in America initiative. It is designed to help small- and medium-sized businesses compete on a global scale, said EXIM. BETA said the cash will be used to finance the new manufacturing facility in Burlington, Vermont. The facility is expected to create an estimated 400 high-paying jobs, according to the White House.
“We are excited to partner with the Export-Import Bank of the United States as part of its new Make More in America initiative,” said Kyle Clark, BETA’s Founder and CEO. “This is not only a vote of confidence in the work BETA is doing to electrify aviation, it will also help us create hundreds of well paid, climate-focused jobs in the coming years as we move toward large scale manufacturing and production of our electric aircraft. America has a long history of leadership in aerospace, and EXIM’s support enables us to do our part to add to that legacy for the future.”
EXIM chairwoman, Rita Jo Lewis and Kyle Clark BETA’s CEO at the Invest in America event yesterday. (credit: BETA)
The White House said the loan was approved in part because of BETA’s high growth trajectory, enabled by current and potential customers in APEC and IPEF economies such as New Zealand, India, Japan, and Canada.
Early last month, the BETA leadership team cut the ribbon on their 300 aircraft per year facility in Vermont. The plant covers an area of 188,500sqft. In the same month, BETA also flew its CTOL aircraft 1,700nm, crossing 12 states from Vermont to Florida to deliver its aircraft to the US Air Force. The mission included stops at 20 airports, flights through Class B airspace in Boston and New York and a flight through the DC Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ) to land at Joint Base Andrews.
