German ‘flying taxi’ firm Lillium takes $90m from Tencent, other investors

Lillium, a German start-up that aims to develop a five-passenger “flying taxi,” has raised a second, $90 million round of financing from top technology investors, making it one of the best-funded electric aircraft projects to date.

The company, which took in $11.4 million only last year, has emerged as one of Europe’s hottest start-ups for attempting to solve hard physics problems for a new category of aircraft capable of vertical take-off and electricpowered jet flight.

Lillium said on Tuesday the new funding round, led by Chinese Internet giant Tencent, is joined by LGT, the largest family-owned investment firm in Europe, based in Liechtenstein; Atomico, a top European venture firm; and Obvious Ventures, whose co-founder, Evan Williams, was a cofounder of Twitter.

In April, Lillium said it was developing a five-seat “flying taxi” after mounting successful test flights of a 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 Lillium executive said. A 20-kilometer trip from Manhattan to JFK Airport could take as little as five minutes, he estimated.

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

Its ambitions put it more in line with the likes of Tesla or Google than the e-commerce apps that dominate the start-up scene in Berlin or the self-financed engineering companies located across the country.

The company 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.

Lillium, 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, in the next decade.

The jet will be a lightweight aircraft powered by 36 electric jet engines mounted to its wings via 12 moveable flaps. With a range of 300 kilometers and cruising speed of 300 kilometers per hour, Lillium is the only electric aircraft capable of both vertical take-off and jet-powered flight, the company said.