Bankruptcy Air taxi manufacturer Volocopter seeks investors

Related Vendor

FAULHABER Drive Systems

The electric flight industry lacks momentum. Just days after Lilium, Volocopter also filed for bankruptcy—and is now seeking investors.

Bankruptcy application at Christmas and a wish list for the New Year: Because talks with potential investors were not fruitful, the air taxi manufacturer Volocopter has filed for bankruptcy and is seeking investors. For the approximately 500 employees, operations are expected to continue as usual for the time being.

The Karlsruhe District Court has appointed Tobias Wahl from Anchor Rechtsanwälte as the preliminary insolvency administrator, Volocopter announced in Bruchsal, Baden (Germany). The attorney intends to develop a restructuring plan and implement it with investors by the end of February. "The company now needs financing to enable it to take the last steps towards market entry."

Volocopter still lacks a type certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to be allowed to transport passengers with its vertically launching fully electric aircraft. Despite the insolvency proceedings filed on Boxing Day, the company expects this to be obtained in the new year, allowing operations to commence. "We are at the forefront of national and international competition both technologically and in flight experience, as well as in the certification process," said Volocopter CEO Dirk Hoke, who will leave the company at the end of February.

Parallels with Lilium

"The business operations continue," a spokeswoman stated. The goal is to preserve jobs and use the insolvency proceedings to restructure Volocopter and establish long-term competitiveness. Under Hoke, the number of employees was reduced from 700 to the current 500.

Volocopter does not provide any information on business figures. The business magazine "Capital," citing the 2023 annual financial statements, reported that the startup recorded a loss of 156.4 million USD, compared to 146.9 million USD the previous year.

In mid-November, Volocopter brought in Oliver Vogelgesang as CFO. He came from the also insolvent e-plane pioneer Lilium. On Christmas Eve, Lilium announced that the investor consortium Mobile Uplift Corporation would take over operations. According to a spokesman, 750 employees who had been laid off a few days before Christmas were to be rehired.

No help from the state

Lilium and Volocopter had repeatedly sought financial support in the past. However, state aid from Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria (Germany), which had been discussed over the past year along with the relocation of Volocopter's headquarters to the Free State, did not materialize. Recently, it had been about 53.5 million USD each from the federal government and Bavaria. The money ultimately came from investors.

Later, the financial service Bloomberg reported that the Chinese conglomerate Geely was interested in acquiring the air taxi startup. Volocopter did not comment substantively on this at the time.

The statement now says that numerous financing rounds in the past have advanced development and operations. Until recently, Volocopter had remained operational in an extremely challenging financial environment. Despite intensive efforts, it was still not possible to find a viable solution to maintain regular operations outside of insolvency proceedings.

It has been known for some time that CEO Dirk Hoke will be leaving in the spring. Former Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche is supposed to search for a successor as advisory board chairman.

In Germany, only operations in rescue services?

Volocopter had actually wanted to fly people during the Olympic Games in Paris. Even though the company still lacks permission for commercial passenger operations, the air taxis can still be seen. There were show flights in Paris, including near the Palace of Versailles, and regular test flights.

The startup has cities like Rome and Osaka on its agenda. Regular flights in Germany, however, are not a priority, as cities here are reportedly not as large and densely populated. Additionally, they have autonomous public transport networks. In Germany, Volocopter is working with ADAC air rescue to test deployments for rescue purposes.

The Federal Ministry of Transport recently presented a strategy to expand the use of drones and flying taxis. This includes test routes for air taxis from 2026 and nationwide operations from 2032. "We want these future modes of transport to be manufactured and operated in Germany," explained Department Head Volker Wissing (independent). This not only creates new high-tech jobs but also secures Germany's position as a leading industrial and innovation hub in the long term.

Although advertised as sustainable and quiet, the modern flying devices are not without controversy: An analysis by the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim found that travel times were hardly reduced, while costs and, compared to electric cars, also CO2 emissions increased. Urban air mobility could be particularly useful for emergency operations and connecting remote regions.