Five on Friday: Volocopter, ZeroAvia and Ascendance

A rendering of the VoloCity flying above Tokyo, Japan. (credit: Volocopter)

In what is probably the bargain of the year so far, Chinese automaker Wanfeng has scooped up the assets of Volocopter for €10m ($10.9m).

Revealed in a stock exchange announcement on Monday, Wanfeng said it had signed an asset purchase agreement with Tobias Wahl, the administrator of Volocopter, on March 6th 2025 through its German subsidiary Heptus 591.

Once the deal is authorised, Volocopter will become the third aviation subsidiary of Wanfeng Group. The firm also owns Austrian light aircraft OEM Diamond Aircraft and has a controlling stake in China’s Wangfeng Aviation.

Some might suggest the technology Volocopter has developed over the course of nearly two decades can’t be very good if it only sold for $10.9m. But scooping up the assets and intellectual property rights for the price of an upmarket three-bed apartment in downtown New York could prove to be a win.

First off, the book value of assets and intellectual property was declared at €42m ($46m), whilst Volocopter itself has raised about €413m ($450m) across six funding rounds to progress its various projects.

Of those projects, the eye-catcher might appear to be the two-person VoloCity eVTOL, which Volocopter expects to certify through EASA in late 2025. But many would argue its capabilities for intracity and sightseeing services offer limited market appeal. Nevertheless, if it is the first EASA-certified eVTOL that could have a positive impact on demand.

The real winner could be Volocopter’s uncrewed heavy-lift eVTOL air cargo drone, aka VoloDrone, which would make a good fit for China’s growing low-altitude economy in addition to increasing global demand for cargo UAS platforms.

There could also be some interest in the VoloRegion (formerly VoloConnect), a four-person eVTOL aircraft aimed at providing longer-range flights of 100km (60 miles).

Volocopter has its own connection to China. In 2021, it launched a joint venture with Aerofugia, a subsidiary of Chinese auto giant Geely, known as Volocopter Chengdu.

Although Volocopter’s current owners still need to authorise the deal, it will likely come as welcome news to employees. Many of those who remain are on court-enforced gardening leave and have had their future in doubt since the company filed for insolvency just after Christmas last year.

But we have already seen this year what can happen to takeovers of struggling German eVTOL companies. Although this one looks a lot more likely, it is not done until it is.