Electric aircraft maker raises cash to weather downturn
The $45m (€31m) backing for Lilium’s electric aircraft development comes from investment management partnership Baillie Gifford. It joins existing investor Tencent and Atomico to bring the current funding round to $275m and the total investment to $375m.
The funding is intended to ensure the Lilium Jet reaches serial production in the newly-completed factory by 2025 despite the global downturn resulting from the pandemic as the company currently employs more than 450 people. This comes as Airbus and Rolls Royce last month cancelled their electric aircraft project.
“Baillie Gifford is one of the world’s most influential tech investors and their commitment to Lilium represents a significant vote of confidence in both our physical product and our business case,” said Christopher Delbrück, Chief Financial Officer at Lilium. “We look forward to working closely with Baillie Gifford as we seek to bring emissions-free, regional air mobility to the market as early as 2025. The funds raised during this round give us the security to weather the challenging economic landscape we see around us and we’re grateful to be able to stay fully focused on our mission.”
“We are delighted to support the remarkable team at Lilium in their ambition of developing a new mode of transport,” said Michael Pye, Investment Manager at Baillie Gifford, which has backed Amazon, Tesla and Space X in the past. “While still at an early stage, we believe this technology could have profound and far-reaching benefits in a low-carbon future and we are excited to watch Lilium’s progress in the years ahead.”
Lilium’s demonstrator aircraft first flew in 2019 and is a five-seater, fully-electric aircraft that can take-off and land vertically (eVTOL).
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