Lilium reportedly looking to secure €454M for its flying taxis to get ahead of Uber Air

Currently, micro mobility is the buzzword when we talk about short distance commute in a city or urban landscape. This is expected to change in a span of few years when flying cars take off, and there are several companies that are working on making this a reality. Uber Air, Volocopter and Lilum are working on their respective air taxi services and as per a TechCrunch report, the German startup Lilium is in talks with investors to raise a notable amount of funding. 

Big funding round ahead? 

Citing sources, TechCrunch reports that Lilium trying to boost its standing in the air taxi race with fresh funding. The German startup is approaching investors to raise anywhere between  $400 and $500 million (€363 and €454 million) and as per one VC familiar with the matter, “It’s a very large round at a very large valuation.” 

The Chinese giant Tencent has previously invested in the company and is said to partake in the latest round. Additionally, Lilium is said to be visiting firms in Silicon Valley and has been pitching potential new investors from some time. If this report turns out to be true, this will be the biggest funding round for a company working on flying taxis.

Notable existing investors 

While it is unclear who might be investing in Lilium’s alleged upcoming funding round, the company is already backed by some notable investors. The company raised $90 million in its Series B funding round, which took place in September 2017 and has secured a total of funding of €92.2 million till date. The international technology investment firm founded by co-founder of Skype, Niklas Zennström , invested twice in the company. LGT Capital Partners, the Chinese conglomerate Tencent and the early-stage VC fund co-founded by Twitter’s Ev Williams, Obvious Ventures, also previously invested in Lilium. 

Developments so far

Lilium revealed the prototype of its all-electric jet-powered five-seater air taxi earlier this year and took it for a spin at its maiden flight over Germany. Daniel Wiegand, co-founder and CEO, said, “Today we are taking another huge step towards making urban air mobility a reality. In less than two years we have been able to design, build and successfully fly an aircraft that will serve as our template for mass production.”

Lilium’s air taxi has a top-speed of 300 km/h and a range of 300km, which is considerable for a vehicle with 36 all-electric jet engines. Lilium’s flying taxi service is slated to be fully-operational in various cities around the world by 2025.

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