UK start up secures ‘significant’ investment from Hyundai to build aerial taxis ports
British start up Urban-Air Port (UAP) announced today it has secured ‘significant’ funding from Hyundai’s urban air mobility division Supernal to build sites for aerial taxis, also called vertiports.
With the funding – the amount of which could not be disclosed – UAP will build 200 vertiports within the next five years, while the world’s first vertiport will open in April in Coventry.
“Despite the unparalleled potential of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to revolutionise mobility, the importance of the ground infrastructure that enables them is too often overlooked,” said Ricky Sandhu, UAP’s executive chairman.
“With Supernal’s investment and expertise and connection to Hyundai Motor Group, we can supercharge the rollout of sustainable, intermodal and scalable ground infrastructure that will unleash the future of advanced air mobility globally.”
The urban mobility market is expected to grow 9 per cent annually, reaching a worth of $12.7bn by 2027 and $1tn within the next 20 years.
Lack of ground infrastructure remains the biggest challenge to the industry’s growth, as only 3 per cent of industry investments in 2021 was ground infrastructure.
“It is essential we not only develop electric air vehicles, but also help shape the broader advanced air mobility market from the ground up,” added Hyundai’s president Jaiwon Shin.