Vertical Aerospace, a Bristol-based company that’s pioneering electric aviation, announced that it has secured $205M (approx €177M) in additional funding to support certification and scale production of the VA-X4 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, CEO, and Founder of Vertical says, “We are delighted to welcome Mudrick Capital and Kouros as new partners to Vertical Aerospace. Their investments are more expert validation of our technology and approach to the exciting future of zero-emissions flight. We look forward to working together in the years to come to bring Urban Air Mobility to cities all over the world.”
Who backed Vertical Aerospace?
Mudrick Capital Management, a New York-based investment firm focused on special situation investing, will invest $200M (approx €172M) in Vertical through convertible senior secured notes.
Jason Mudrick. Founder and CIO of Mudrick Capital, says, “The company is led by an exceptional team, developing an innovative aircraft, that has created an unrivalled partner ecosystem, with what we believe is the largest announced conditional pre-order book in the industry. With this investment, the company now has the proper capitalisation to bring electric flight into commercial operation by the middle of this decade and move towards high-scale production. Vertical is on the right side of the movement towards Net Zero – cutting carbon by reducing reliance on short-haul flights and other modes of transport. This is essential and it is a key consideration in our investment.”
With offices in New York and London, Mudrick Capital manages capital for a diverse group of sophisticated institutions and individuals, including endowments, foundations, insurance companies, private banks, funds-of-funds, pensions, family offices, and high–net–worth individuals. As of September 2021, Mudrick Capital managed approximately $3.5B (approx €3B).
On the other hand, Kouros SA, a firm specialising in investments to decarbonise transport and energy production, will invest $5M (approx €4.3M) in Vertical’s PIPE alongside American Airlines, Avolon, Honeywell, Microsoft’s M12, and Rolls-Royce.
Florent Bergeret, Head of Strategy and Investments of Kouros France, says: “Kouros SA is thrilled to invest in Vertical Aerospace, a pioneer company leading the way to electric aviation.”
Vertical Aerospace: What do you need to do?
Founded by Stephen Fitzpatric, Vertical Aerospace builds technology to revolutionise how people fly, by making air travel on-demand, and carbon-free.
Vertical Aerospace is on a mission to make air travel personal, on-demand, and carbon-free through its eVTOL aircraft, the VA-X4.
The four passengers, one pilot VA-X4 is projected to have speeds up to 200mph, a range over 100 miles, near-silent when in flight, zero operating emissions, and low cost per passenger mile.
So far, Vertical has received conditional pre-orders for a total of up to 1,350 aircraft from American Airlines, Avolon, Bristow, Iberojet, Virgin Atlantic, and Marubeni.
Vertical Aerospace: Previous developments
On November 2nd, Vertical Aerospace announced the appointment of two independent non-executive directors — Kathy Cassidy and Gur Kimchi, to Vertical’s Board of Directors, with Dómhnal Slattery becoming an advisor to Stephen Fitzpatrick, CEO, and Chairman of Vertical.
Last month, the company announced that Justin ‘Jif’ Paines has joined the company as Chief Test Pilot. Paines is expected to conduct the first piloted flight of the VA-X4, in 2022.
In June 2021, Vertical announced a SPAC merger with Broadstone Acquisition Corp. Vertical will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange following the combination, which is expected to close in the second half of 2021, under the ticker EVTL.
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