Volocopter tops up Series E funding with $182M

Electric taxi service Volocopter has added $182 million to its Series E funding.

The investment comes from Saudi Arabia's smart city development project Neom and Hong Kong-based Gly Capital Management.

The additional funds come after the company announced $170 million in Series E financing earlier this year.

Volocopter says the investment will bring it "beyond the certification of its electric passenger aircraft, the VoloCity air taxi."

It adds that it expects to launch its first air taxi routes in the next two years in cities including Singapore, Rome, Paris and the Neom region of northwestern Saudi Arabia along the Red Sea.

Christian Bauer, chief commercial officer of Volocopter, says: “Raising over $180 million despite the generally tense economic climate highlights Volocopter’s robust technology strategy and its ongoing progress toward achieving market readiness. We appreciate the remarkable spirit of collaboration and the trust that our existing and new shareholders have placed in us as we forge ahead on our journey to bring the urban air mobility ecosystem to life.”

Volocopter signed a joint venture with Neom almost a year ago aiming to "design, integrate and operate the region’s all-electric public flight routes for the initial seven years post-launch."

Florian Lennert, head of mobility at Neom, says: "At Neom we strongly believe in the potential for urban air mobility to provide a new dimension to future integrated transport systems. Building on our successful collaboration with Volocopter, we are excited to strengthen our partnership and to make a strategic investment in the future of mobility.”