German electric air taxi company Volocopter has filed for bankruptcy protection, the latest in a string of similar startups to hit financial turbulence. The company plans to keep operating while it searches for new investors.
“We are ahead of our industry peers in our technological, flight test, and certification progress. That makes us an attractive company to invest in while we organize ourselves with internal restructuring,” CEO Dirk Hoke said in a statement.
Volocopter’s decision comes after it spent months teetering on the edge of falling apart. It also comes just one week after fellow German electric vertical takeoff and landing startup Lilium ceased operations — only to be apparently saved by a consortium of investors just one day later. (That deal is set to close in January.)
Volocopter is one of the more well-funded electric air taxi startups, having raised hundreds of millions of dollars over nearly a decade with backing from major automakers like Germany’s Mercedes-Benz and China’s Geely.
“We are ahead of our industry peers in our technological, flight test, and certification progress. That makes us an attractive company to invest in while we organize ourselves with internal restructuring.”
Numerous successful financing rounds have driven the company’s development and operations in the past. With one of the lowest burn rates in the industry, Volocopter has successfully operated in an extremely difficult financial environment. However, despite recent intensive fundraising efforts, finding a viable solution to maintain regular operations outside of insolvency proceedings has not been possible.
Bruchsal, Germany, 30 December 2024 – Volocopter GmbH filed an application for the opening of insolvency proceedings at the Karlsruhe Local Court on 26 December 2024. The Karlsruhe Local Court began the provisional insolvency administration the following day and appointed Tobias Wahl, partner, and attorney at Anchor Rechtsanwältegesellschaft mbH, as its administrator.
Volocopter is a pioneer of urban air mobility (UAM), developing safe, quiet, and sustainable all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and a digital backbone that connects aircraft, infrastructure, and operators, the VoloIQ. Founded in 2011, the start-up company is nearing the finish line to obtain aircraft type certification and launch its urban eVTOL, the VoloCity.
The company aims to enter the market in 2025 following VoloCity’s successful certification by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
Business operations will continue as usual during the provisional insolvency proceedings. The provisional insolvency administrator has now held a staff meeting to inform employees about the current situation and answer initial questions about the proceedings. In addition, Tobias Wahl has initiated an investor process.
The company needs financing to take the final steps towards market entry. We will endeavor to develop a restructuring concept by the end of February and implement it with investors,” explains Tobias Wahl.
