German air taxi maker Volocopter has filed for bankruptcy, the company has said.
“Despite recent intensive fund-raising efforts, finding a viable solution to maintain regular operations outside of insolvency proceedings has not been possible,” Volocopter said in a news release published on Sunday.
“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.”
According to Volocopter, the company plans to develop and enact a “restructuring concept” by the end of February.
Volocopter has made plenty of headlines in recent years and videos of its unconventional vehicles have gone viral on social media, showing air-taxi prototypes and test flights taking place around the world.
Founded in 2011, the company has sought to be a leader in the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) market, pushing to develop safe, quiet and sustainable electric aircraft that would operate in cities.
In 2022, Neom, the futuristic city being built in Saudi Arabia, announced a $175 million investment in the air mobility company, along with a promise to operate electric air taxi services there.
In 2021, Volocopter announced plans to have its electrical air taxi service in operation during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Despite successful test flights, it failed to attain the proper permits to make that vision a reality.
It has conducted public test flights in cities including Singapore, Dubai and Paris.
“Numerous successful financing rounds have driven the company's development and operations in the past,” the company's insolvency announcement said. “With one of the lowest burn rates in the industry, Volocopter has successfully operated in an extremely difficult financial environment.”
According to Volocopter, it still plans to enter the market in 2025 following successful certification by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
It also said it's “nearing the finish line” to launch its much talked about VoloCity urban aircraft.
Volocopter previously won financial backing from Intel and Daimler, and staged several successful financing rounds from investors such as Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group, MS&AD Ventures and TransLink Capital since its founding.
Despite the insolvency filing, Dirk Hoke, chief executive of Volocopter, was optimistic.
“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 organise ourselves with internal restructuring,” he said.
