Lilium, a Munich, Germany-based developer of a five-seat electric jet, raised $90M in Series B funding.
Backers included:
– Tencent;
– LGT, an international private banking and asset management group;
– Atomico; and
– Obvious Ventures.
The company, which has raised more than $100m in total funding, intends to use the funds for the development of the five-seat Lilium Jet that will fly commercially, as well as to grow the current team of more than 70.
Led by Daniel Wiegand, co-founder and CEO, Lilium is developing the Lilium Jet, a Low Noise, High Speed, Emission Free five seat jet, which will be able to travel at up to 300 km per hour for one hour on a single charge. The Lilium Jet consists of a rigid winged body with 12 flaps. Each one carries three electric jet engines. Depending on the flight mode, the flaps tilt from a vertical into a horizontal position. At take-off, all flaps are tilted vertical, so that the engines can lift the aircraft. Once airborne, the flaps gradually tilt into a horizontal position, leading the aircraft to accelerate. When they have reached complete horizontal position, all lift necessary to stay aloft is provided by the wings as on a conventional airplane.
In April, a full size prototype successfully performed its most complicated manoeuvre – transitioning between hover mode and horizontal flight.
FinSMEs
05/09/2017