German urban air mobility company files for insolvency

Volocopter, a German air transport company, has filed for insolvency following several unsuccessful attempts to raise funds in an increasingly challenging international market.

German urban air mobility (UAM) start-up, Volocopter GmbH, has announced that it has started the process of filing for insolvency, as it has been unable to secure the funds needed to continue normal operations.

The company submitted its insolvency application at the Karlsruhe Local Court, in southwestern Germany.

A lawyer and partner at German management consultancy and law firm Anchor Rechtsanwältegesellschaft mbH, Tobias Wahl, has been appointed as Volocopter’s administrator.

Volocopter was launched in 2011 and has been working on advancing urban air transport through all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, which is sustainable, safe and quiet.

The company also has a digital platform, VoloIQ, which is cloud-based and is integral to Volocopter’s operations and ecosystem. As such, VoloIQ has also been dubbed the “digital brains” of the company.

Volocopter is still awaiting its aircraft type certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), in order to be able to launch VoloCity, which will be its urban eVTOL. VoloCity is expected to be available from next year onwards.

Wahl said in a press release on Volocopter’s website: “The company needs financing to take the final steps towards market entry. We will endeavour to develop a restructuring concept by the end of February and implement it with investors.”

Dirk Hoke, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Volocopter, also said in the press release: “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.”

Hoke will be stepping down as CEO of Volocopter at the end of next February.

Dampened global investor conditions continue to impact innovative tech funding

Although the company has received considerable funding in the past, it now needs more in order to be able to finally complete its market launch. However, the current challenging German and international economic conditions have made fundingscarce and slow to obtain over the past several months.

This is especially true for experimental tech and automotive companies, which may face higher investor wariness and scrutiny in the face of growing geopolitical uncertainties, weakened global stock markets, and high interest rates.

The ongoing cost of living crisis still being seen in several parts of the world has also dampened investor confidence, and eroded funds available for investment in many cases.

This lacklustre investment environment is not only impacting start-ups, but also much more established companies such as Tesla, which has also faced muted investor enthusiasm for its recently announced Robotaxi, also known as the Cybercab. This is expected to a two-seater, self-driving vehicle, however, investors have called for more details regarding pricing, business model and launch timing.