Electric airplane startup Lilium is shutting down after failing to secure emergency funding from the German government, according to a regulatory filing.
The filing comes after the German company, once the darling of the nascent industry of electric aircraft, suffered a series of setbacks. Lilium, which was developing a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft with a top speed of 100km/h, had raised more than $1 billion from investors before listing on the Nasdaq exchange in 2021 through a reverse merger with Blank. . Check Company, SPAC Qell.
Lilium has attracted a number of high-profile investors, such as Tencent, and has been successful in locking in customers, including an order for 100 electric jets from Saudi Arabia. And we recently powered up our first full-scale prototype. However, it still took many years for the company to offer a product. During that time, I burned through cash and took on other challenges. In 2020, one of Lilium’s two prototypes exploded into flames during maintenance. As this model nears retirement, Lilium has paused testing of a second new model until it can determine the cause of the first plane’s accident.
Lilium had sought additional funding, including a 50 million euro ($54 million) loan from the German government, but lawmakers rejected the request last week. “We have been informed that the budget committee of the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany will not approve a guarantee of 50 million euros for the planned 100 million euros of convertible bonds,” Lilium said in a statement.
The company said it was unable to raise sufficient additional funds to continue operations of its subsidiaries.
Lilium said it would file for bankruptcy within the next few days under German law. This means Lilium will lose control of its subsidiaries, including Lilium eAircraft.
