The start-up Lilium wants to conquer the air with electric flying taxis. For this, the Bavarian company is now collecting hundreds of millions on the New York technology exchange Nasdaq. However, the stock market launch turned out differently than hoped.
When CSU politician Dorothee Bär was supposed to speak in the Heute-Journal about her role as digital state minister in 2018, she surprised with the statement: It’s not just about broadband expansion, but also about modern mobility, for example air taxis. The vision was greeted with a lot of malice at the time. And three and a half years later, there are still no air taxis flying through Germany. But at least: that they will do it in the foreseeable future has just become more likely.
Because with the Munich company Lilium, one of the leading developers of air taxis is making its debut on the New York technology exchange Nasdaq this Wednesday. The start-up, founded in 2015 by engineers from the Technical University of Munich, wants to get the necessary change to soon make the air taxi dream come true.
The IPO Lilium brings in 584 million US dollars according to its own information. You can work with it – but it is less than the hoped-for $ 830 million that the company had originally speculated on. The company is now valued at around $ 3 billion. The best-known previous shareholders include the Chinese technology giant Tencent and the German celebrity investor Frank Thelen.
Commercial start planned for 2024
The fact that Lilium did not reach the target amount is also due to the construction that the Bavarian company chose for its IPO. In order to go public more quickly, Lilium has briefly merged with a shell company called Quell, a so-called Special Acquisition Company (Spac). As is customary with Spacs, the latter had already collected money in advance from investors in order to then find a company that could go public. When the choice fell on Lilium, two thirds of the source shareholders did not want any shares in the air taxi company and gave back their papers.
Despite the unsuccessful IPO, Lilium founder Daniel Wiegand sees himself “closer than ever to the goal” of getting his electric mini-jets into the air. “Today’s milestone brings us even closer to starting our service in 2024 and making sustainable, regional high-speed air traffic around the world a reality,” said Wiegand, commenting on the stock market launch. The proceeds will now be used to finance the commercial launch of the seven-seat Lilium jet.
Will series production be successful?
The special thing about Lilium is that the jets can take off vertically like a helicopter and therefore do not need a large runway. In addition, they rely on pure electric propulsion through batteries and thus provide a solution for the climate-neutral mobility of the future. In the future, they could fly passengers over congested metropolises or connect nearby cities with one another. Lilium cites flights from New York to Boston or an air shuttle from Manhattan to JFK Airport as examples. In Germany, for example, the airports in Düsseldorf and Cologne / Bonn have declared that they want to use Lilium jets as soon as they are approved.
However, so far there have only been demonstrators, i.e. individual demonstration machines that show that the Lilium technology basically works. Lilium had a two-seater prototype soaring in 2017, and a five-seater has been tested since 2019. The announced seven-seater for series production only exists on paper so far.
Nevertheless, the further schedule is ambitious: Production of the seven-seater is to begin in the coming year, followed by extensive further tests. Lilium wants to achieve certification and thus the requirement for commercial use by 2024. For 2027, Lilium expects sales of almost 6 billion dollars.
First major order – but tough competition
Lilium recently received its first major order: a few weeks ago, the Brazilian airline Azul ordered 220 air taxis, which are to operate in Brazil from 2025. According to the company, the deal is worth a billion dollars.
Whether Lilium will actually conquer the skies with his impressive vision has not yet been determined. Because other manufacturers are also working flat out and many millions of investors on the future of the air taxi, above all the German rival Volocopter and the American company Joby Aviation. Volocopter is also currently considering an IPO in order to be able to get into series production quickly. Joby went public in February 2021 and, like Lilium, is aiming for a commercial start in 2024. Which technology and business model will prevail is completely open.
Whoever wins the race: Air taxi fan Dorothee Bär, who has just been appointed to the future team by Armin Laschet, could possibly get on the flying shuttle in the coming legislative period.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
