XPeng’s Flying Car Firm HT Aero Banks $500 Million in Series A Funding
HT Aero, the electric flying car company owned by XPeng Motors, announced on Tuesday that it had nabbed over $500 million in a Series A funding round, which will value the company at more than $1 billion. This is the biggest round ever achieved by a low-flying aircraft company in Asia in terms of money raised, said HT Aero.
The financing round was led by IDG Capital, 5Y Capital, and XPeng Inc. Renowned investment companies as Sequoia Capital China, Eastern bell Capital, GGV Capital, GL Ventures, and Yunfeng Capital also took part in the funding round.
“The investment in HT Aero will further accelerate the build-up of our ecosystem to integrate driving and flying”, said Mr. He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of XPeng.
“The company will further strengthen its investment in the R&D and manufacturing of flying cars, the pooling of high-end talent, and the airworthiness certification,” said Mr. Deli Zhao, Founder and President of HT Aero. “Our next-generation model will be a fully integrated flying vehicle and automobile, designed for both low-altitude air travel and road driving. We are planning for an official roll-out in 2024,” Mr. Zhao added.
Unlike many eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) companies, which target services for the business sector, HT Aero is focused on developing three-dimensional, smart and sustainable urban air mobility (UAM) solutions for individual consumers.
HT Aero has been involved in the field of manned aircraft since 2013. Up to now, the company has successfully developed five generations of intelligent electric manned aircraft products.
Headquartered in Guangzhou, HT Aero has R&D centers and laboratories in Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Silicon Valley of the United States. The company’s R&D and compliance verification flight tests are conducted in Panyu, Guangzhou.
At present, HT Aero has a team of 500 professionals from multiple disciplines, including industrial design, structural mechanics, embedded systems, aerodynamic simulation, integrated avionics, manned flight test, flight control, autonomous driving, airworthiness and safety.
