Lilium raises $100M toward goal of $250M

Germany-based Lilium, maker of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jets, has raised $100 million toward what it expects will be a $250 million capital raise.

Lilium said the initial investment is from Singapore-based Aceville, an affiliate of China’s Tencent Holdings that already owns more than 23% of the company.

Founded in 2015, Lilium said this funding will “cover most of the estimated capital required to achieve first manned flight of the type-conforming aircraft,” which it expects to happen in the second half of 2024.

“The capital raise announced today marks an important development in our ongoing mission to revolutionize the aviation industry,” said Klaus Roewe, Lilium CEO.

“With this financing, we are excited to continue our development program at full pace. We remain in multiple constructive discussions with existing and potential new investors. We hope to announce further updates soon.”

Lilium went public via a SPAC in 2021 and raised $119 million last November. But the company’s stock has struggled in the last year and has been below Nasdaq’s $1 threshold since the beginning of March, putting it at risk of a warning of delisting similar to what has happened recently to Sonder and Vacasa.