In March, the Munich-based air taxi startup Lilium received a mega-investment of $240 million. This round, led by the Chinese internet giant Tencent, was now joined by the Scottish investment management firm Baillie Gifford with $35 million.
Baillie Gifford is known for its investments in technology companies such as Amazon, Airbnb, Spotify, and SpaceX. The investment firm is the second-largest shareholder in Tesla, behind Elon Musk himself. The money—like the $240 million previously received—will be used for the further development of the Lilium Jet and for preparatory work for series production at Lilium's newly completed production facility.
Christopher Delbrück, Chief Financial Officer of Lilium, on the new investment:
“Baillie Gifford is one of the most influential tech investors in the world, and their commitment to Lilium is a significant vote of confidence in both our physical product and our business case.”
The Munich are not only developing all-electric, vertical takeoff and landing air taxi aircraft, but are also planning a regional flight service. This is scheduled to launch as early as 2025. The first phase of flight testing was recently completed, during which the five-seat Lilium Jet was flown at speeds of over 100 km/h.
Delbrück continued:
“The funds raised during this round give us the confidence to weather the challenging economic environment we are seeing around us, and we are grateful to be able to remain fully focused on our mission.”
Headwinds for Lilium
The startup not only lost one of its prototypes in a fire at the beginning of March this year, and it is also viewed with great skepticism in the aviation industry. For example, this January, an anonymous aviation expert, based on his own model calculations, described Lilium's concept as "absolutely unfeasible." The analysis is considered methodologically correct by colleagues, but it is based on the assumption that the power-to-weight ratio of lithium-ion batteries will remain at its current level. A claim that Lilium founder Daniel Wiegand made in an interview with Handelsblatt strongly disagreed.
Michael Pye, Investment Manager at Baillie Gifford, also backed the new investment:
"We are delighted to support the remarkable team at Lilium in their quest to develop a new mode of transport. While still at an early stage, we believe this technology could have profound and far-reaching benefits in a low-carbon future, and we look forward to Lilium's progress in the coming years."
