Urban air mobility company Volocopter announced it has raised US$170 million in the initial signing of its Series E funding round led by South Korean investor WP Investment, at a pre-money valuation of US$1.7 billion. Composed of funds by new and existing investors, the money raised will assist with the certification of Volocopter’s electric passenger air taxi and is expected to help Volocopter achieve commercial launch in first cities worldwide. New investors in Volocopter include WP Investment and Honeywell, among others. Many existing investors including Atlantia, Whysol, and btov Partners, have also increased their investment in this round.
“This funding round is a testament to Volocopter’s leading position in what is a highly attractive emerging market. We continue to make significant technical and commercial progress as we work toward bringing urban air mobility to life at scale in cities worldwide,” said Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter.
Christian Bauer, CCO of Volocopter, said: “Volocopter has spectacular investors from around the globe, which puts us in an excellent position to focus on our first-to-certification and first-to-market strategies before we embark on the path to public listing. I’m excited to accelerate our path to commercial launch together with investors, partners, and the phenomenal Volocopter team.”
WP Investment based in Seoul, South Korea, is a new investor for Volocopter in this funding round. Following this announcement, Volocopter and WP Investment will enter into a strategic partnership by creating a joint venture that will soon bring urban air mobility to South Korea’s cities. “We are confident that Volocopter will be among the first to bring UAM to cities globally, since seeing its aircraft fly in Seoul last year. As a leader in ESG investment, we are excited to empower city sustainability through Volocopter,” says Dr. Lei Wang, chairman of WP Investment. Co-Chairman Tiffany Park said: “We are excited to kick off our joint venture and be the first to establish sustainable eVTOL logistics and air taxi services with Volocopter in Korea.”
“We decided to strengthen our investment in Volocopter because we strongly believe in its ability to rapidly bring to life this innovative and sustainable mobility,” said Elisabetta De Bernardi, investment director Europe for Atlantia. “We will continue to promote urban air mobility, a fast-growing business that can help reduce emissions and traffic in large cities.”
The company recently announced that it has entered a financing agreement in principle with Aviation Capital Group (ACG) to shape the sale and leasing of Volocopter aircraft for up to US$1 billion. Once aircraft certification has been achieved, this agreement will allow Volocopter to offer its operating entities and customers worldwide attractive leasing options, a key to rapidly scaling the business in the future.