For the second signing of its Series E round, Volocopter, a German business that makes electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, has raised $182 million. Additionally, Volocopter received $170 million in March for the same round at a post-money valuation of $1.87 billion.

Testing of Volocopter’s two-seater VoloCity air taxi in accordance with the standards established by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency is now ongoing (EASA). The additional funding will be used to support the company’s testing efforts as it moves toward Special Conditions for small-category VTOL aircraft certification. By the second part of 2023, Volocopter expects to have its aircraft certified, and by 2024, the business hopes to have begun offering paid trips.

The EASA has approved the VoloCity Design Organization in 2019 and the Production Organization in 2021, approved the VoloCity Design Organization in 2019 and the Production Organization in 2021, which are two requirements for getting type certification for the aircraft and starting operations.

According to a spokesperson, the additional funds to Volocopter’s Series E will also assist in preparing the urban air mobility ecosystem, including infrastructure, integration with other mobility forms, and raising public awareness, so Volocopter can start providing rides right away once the VoloCity is certified.

According to Helena Treeck, head of PR at Volocopter, “first commercial operations will be a small number of Volocopters flying on certain routes (maybe one or two) with paying clients.”From there, the network of routes will continue to expand to provide more and more routes and flights on connections, where we can actually give value to our clients (beyond the amazing view), such as time savings and service dependability.

Earlier this month, the startup’s VoloCity made its first crewed public test flight from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport. There, it also displayed its VoloIQ digital platform, according to Volocopter, covers everything from client bookings to monitoring flight operations. Rome Volocopter may choose this as the market launch location, although other options include Singapore, Paris, and Neom, a smart city being developed in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk Province.

Along with GLy Capital Management of Hong Kong, a private equity business supported by Geely that specializes in smart automobiles, electrification, and intelligent cities, Neom participated in this round as a primary investor. In order to incorporate the VoloCity air taxi and the VoloDrone, the startup’s large load-lifting electric drone, into Neon’s linked mobility systems, Neom and Volocopter established a joint venture firm in December of last year. 15 Volocopter aircraft have already been ordered by the city and will start operating in the next one to two years.

To introduce urban air transportation to China, Volocopter and Geely Holding have also created a joint venture. The JV and Geely agreed to a purchase deal last year for 150 Volocopter helicopters, with Geely anticipated helping with production.

The Company:

Alexander Zosel and Stephan Wolf created the German aircraft company Volocopter GmbH, formerly known as E-Volo GmbH, which has its headquarters in Bruchsal (a town close to Karlsruhe). The business focuses in creating electric multirotor helicopters that are used as air taxis and are shaped like personal air vehicles.

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