Chinese eVTOL Firm Autoflight Completes A Round of Financing Worth $100 Million
Shanghai-based Fengfei Aviation Technology, known by its English name Autoflight, is a leading R&D and manufacturing enterprise for autonomous electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The firm announced that it completed its A Round of financing worth $100 million. This is the largest single financing obtained by a domestic eVTOL enterprise so far.
Xie Jia, Vice President of Autoflight, said that this round of financing will be used for R&D and manufacturing of manned eVTOL aircraft – essentially a “flying car” – high-end talent resources, airworthiness certification and expansion of market application.
Autoflight was established on September 26, 2019, engaged in the design, R&D, manufacturing, and service of unmanned aerial vehicles. The company’s R&D headquarters were established in Shanghai in 2017. In the domestic market, the company entered at a relatively early stage, specializing in R&D and manufacturing of autonomous aircraft.
At present, Autoflight has over 300 employees, of which technical R&D personnel account for more than half, engaged in aircraft design, flight control algorithm, automatic driving, AI, avionics system, power system and composite materials.
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Among the company’s products, The V400 Albatross has a maximum take-off weight of 400 kg and a maximum load of 100 kg. The pure electric version has a cruising range of 300 km. At present, this product is mainly used for heavy loads such as regional express logistics, emergency material transportation and rescue. This product has become the first pure eVTOL fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle to be officially accepted by the Civil Aviation Administration of China for an airworthiness certification.
In terms of markets, Autoflight’s products are not only sold domestically, but have also expanded into overseas markets such as Europe and the Middle East. It is reported that the firm will achieve sales of 100 million yuan ($15.465 million) in 2021.
