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Just days after eVTOL startup Eve Air Mobility published video of its prototype’s maiden hover flight, the company announced $150 million in new financing to continue developing its vision of the future of flight.
The race to launch a viable eVTOL air taxi service is turning out to be as much a financial marathon as a technical one, with companies forced to find new ways to stay on their financial runways – even if their products don’t need them (Ha!). Keeping the metaphor going, Embraer’s Eve Air Mobility just got a major endurance boost in the form of $150 million in debt financing.
The five-year loan was arranged by a syndicate including Itaú and Banco do Brasil alongside Citibank and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and is intended to support R&D, as well as, “ecosystem integration with infrastructure partners.”
“This successful debt raise represents a significant milestone for Eve and a strong endorsement of our leadership in shaping the future of urban air mobility,” said Eduardo Couto, Eve Air Mobility’s CFO. “The confidence of large banks reinforces our commitment to delivering a fully integrated eVTOL ecosystem. This financing provides long-term resources necessary to accelerate development, advance certification, and execute our strategic roadmap through 2028 and beyond.”
The money’s coming in at a great time, too, on the heels of a key technical milestone: the first flight of its full-scale engineering prototype in Brazil, which successfully hovered and validated both its fly-by-wire controls and energy management systems.
With the latest loan, Eve’s total funding to date now reaches a staggering $1.2 billion, making it one of the best-capitalized pure-play companies in the eVTOL industry. The fresh injection of cash should provide enough capital to power through the costly certification phase critical for securing customers as the company targets a 2028 operational launch of its electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL).
Electrek’s Take
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There are always one or two VCs who are susceptible to hype about technology they don’t understand – but when banks like Citi and MUFG are willing to put out big money like this, it moves the sector from a speculative, “hail Mary” sort of venture capital story and more towards a recognized, financeable asset class.
For Eve, the capital is now in place, and the focus (and the pressure) is fully on execution, testing, and delivering that 2028 launch timeline. Let’s see how they do!
SOURCE | IMAGES: Eve Air Mobility.
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