Flying taxi startup Lilium raises $240m in funding round
German flying taxi firm Lilium has raised an extra $240m (£207m) in funding from backers such as Chinese tech firm Tencent.
The new funds mean that the startup has now raised more than $340m, which it will use for further development of its prototype jet as well as preparing its facilities to begin production.
The company plans to have the model operating and airborne in several regions around the world by 2025.
The five-seater Lilium Jet, which has a fixed-wing design and is powered by 36 electric motors, can both take-off and land vertically and has a top speed of over 100km/h.
Once in service, it is hope that the model will be able to complete an intercity trip of 300 km in one hour.
Tencent led the funding round, with support from existing investors Atomico, Freigeist and LGT.
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Commenting on the announcement, Christopher Delbrück, the firm’s finance chief, said: “This additional funding underscores the deep confidence our investors have in both our physical product and our business case.
“The new funds will enable us to take big strides towards our shared goal of delivering regional air mobility as early as 2025.”
David Wallerstein, Tencent’s chief exploration officer, said: “At Tencent we’re committed to supporting technologies that we believe have the potential to tackle the greatest challenges facing our world.
“Over the last few years we’ve had the opportunity to see the professionalism and dynamism with which Lilium are approaching their mission and we’re honoured to be supporting them as they take the next steps on their journey.”
Lilium’s ride has not always been the smoothest, with a battery fire destroying one of its two prototype models in February, prompting an internal investigation.
However, the accident appears not to have put off investors, although questions have been raised in the past about the logic of running a service that will compete with intercity rail and flight links.