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Lilium displayed a full-scale model of the Lilium Jet at ILA Berlin.
A few weeks ago, the future of Volocopter and Lilium—Germany’s most prominent advanced air mobility firms—looked grim, with both warning they could run out of money within weeks without fresh funding.
But just in time for the ILA Berlin Air Show, the startups have bought themselves a bit more runway.
- Shareholders support capital raises
- Volocopter aims to fly VoloCity in Paris in July
- Lilium to roll out first Lilium Jet in late summer
Lilium generated $114 million in a May 29 capital raise from existing and strategic shareholders. Among the participants were Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent Holdings, $24 million; Hong Kong-based BIT Capital, $26 million; and Germany-based Early Bird Venture Capital, $24 million. Lilium had warned earlier in May that it may run out of money in July with no fresh funding.
“It was not a very large funding round,” Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe tells Aviation Week. “We did not have to do more.” Financing for the next 3-4 months is now secured, he adds.
Volocopter said in a June 4 statement that existing shareholders had agreed to participate in the latest financing round. The company did not disclose the amount it has been given access to because of “contractual obligations,” but it plans to reveal more details in the fourth quarter when all tranches have been paid. Shareholders include Blackrock, DB Schenker, Geely and Mercedes-Benz, among others.
Both companies also are still hoping that the German federal government and state governments may support them with loan guarantees.
Roewe expects due diligence by German officials to continue for several weeks. Germany is mulling around €100 million ($107 million) in loan guarantees, a process that has been long delayed by political concerns in the Bavarian state government coalition. A French package tied to local investment could be considerably larger than the German part, Roewe adds, without specifying any additional details.
Future funding plans also depend on the success of sales campaigns. Roewe says the company is seeing strong interest in its six-seater electric aircraft. Higher than expected pre-delivery payments could shore up its finances, leading to reduced investor funding needs. In May, Urban Link bought 20 Lilium Jets for a Florida network. EVolare, a subsidiary of UK executive jet and helicopter operator Volare Aviation, ordered four.
Getting to certification is a “$2 billion affair,” Roewe said on an ILA panel. The company has raised around $1.5 billion so far and spent nearly that amount. Following the recent capital raise and potential German and French state funding, more funding rounds will be needed, but Roewe said it was unclear when the company would try to tap the financial markets again and what amounts it will try to raise.
Roewe sees Lilium extending beyond advanced air mobility. “We want to electrify normal aircraft,” he says. “The next case will be a short-range aircraft, electric but fan-driven propulsion that you can scale.”
Lilium is talking to officials in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of France about setting up a final assembly line for the Lilium Jet that would come in addition to the first site at the company headquarters in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, near Munich. The Oberpfaffenhofen site, once expanded, can produce only 400 aircraft per year, Lilium estimates, but the manufacturer forecasts considerably higher numbers in later years.
Lilium plans to fly the first crewed Lilium Jet that will be close to production standards by year-end.
Meanwhile, Lilium has begun assembling MSN2, the aircraft that is planned to make the first flight. MSN1, already more advanced in construction, will be used as an engineering testbed on the ground and will be tied down during full engine runs. MSN3 and 4 will be built to the same standard as MSN2, but MSN5-7 will receive structural modifications with some aluminum components in the rear being replaced by composite units and some interior panels being reduced in size. The later standard will feature considerable weight savings, Roewe says.
The fresh capital ensures Volocopter can fly its two-seat VoloCity during the Paris Olympics. However, European Union Aviation Safety Agency type certification is not expected in time for Paris. There, the aircraft is expected to fly under a more limited “permit to fly,” which will not allow commercial passengers onboard.
Volocopter will need fresh funding not only for type certification but also for production ramp-up and development of a four-seat version of the VoloCity.
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