Startup raises 90 million US dollars for 'flying taxi'

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Lilium, a German start-up with Silicon Valley-scale ambitions to develop a five-passenger “flying taxi”, has raised a second, 90-million-US-dollar round of financing from top tech investors, making it one of the best-funded electric aircraft projects to date.

The company has emerged as one of Europe’s hottest start-ups as it looks to create a new category of aircraft capable of both vertical take-off and electric powered jet flight.

Lilium said on Tuesday the new funding, led by Chinese Internet giant Tencent, also includes Liechtenstein-based LGT, Europe’s largest family-owned investment firm; European venture firm Atomico; and Obvious Ventures, whose co-founder, Evan Williams, is a co-founder of Twitter.

"The Jetsons". /AFP Photo

Long on the stuff of science fiction and futuristic cartoons such as “The Jetsons”, aviation and technology leaders are now racing to develop new types of electric-powered flying vehicles, dubbed “flying cars”, including Airbus, Uber and a range of start-ups.

In April, Lilium said it was developing a five-seat "flying taxi" after mounting successful test flights of a full-size, two-seat jet capable of a mid-air transition from hover mode, like drones, to wing-borne flight, like conventional aircraft.

Wing-borne, electric-powered flight allows commuter aircraft to travel five or six times the distance of drones, a Lilium executive said. A 20-km (12-mile) trip from Manhattan to JFK Airport could take as little as five minutes, he estimated.

The prototype of the five-seat "flying taxi". /Photo via lilium.com

“The concept goes far beyond what you typically see from German start-ups,” said Remo Gerber, the former European managing director of online taxi firm Gett, who was named Lilium’s chief commercial officer last month.

Lilium said it plans to use the new funds to expand hiring and carry it through the next development stages of its five-seat electric jet, buying it time to meet stringent regulatory approvals.

Lilium, which was founded in 2015 by four graduates from the Technical University of Munich, is shooting for a manned test flight of its five-seat aircraft around 2019, and to roll-out “flying taxi” commuter services, subject to regulatory approvals, some time in the next decade.

Source(s): Reuters