Searching for our flying car - lets follow (some of) the money
Spinning around the globe with Drones, eVTOL, Air Taxis and the UAV industry.
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I appreciate your help in keeping “Where is my flying car?” readers informed by sharing the newsletter and sending me your links. Looking at the money flows its clear to see the industry is moving with speed. There are a lot of unsolved problems which makes this space ripe for step change.
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Follow The Money
Many of the biggest players in the venture capital and private equity sectors have poured significant resources into the technologies powering the industry, with firms like Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, a16z, Founders Fund and sector specific Levitate Capital and numerous Angel investors leading the charge. These early investors have consistently been at the forefront of emerging technologies and have a track record of backing successful startups in a wide range of industries.
But it's not just venture capital firms that are investing in eVTOL, drones, and UAVs. Many of the world's largest aerospace and defence companies, such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, have also made significant investments in these technologies. But are they revolutionaries or evolutionaries and where is the ‘smart money’ going? Those who successfully grow their investments using the Power Law tend to favour the former.
Overall, it's clear that the total amount of money being invested in this area is only going to continue to grow as these technologies mature and become more widespread. JP Morgan has estimated the industry will be worth $1 trillion by 2040 and based on VC investment cycles this is not far away. As history feeds us, it’s worth remembering JP Morgan was one of the early venturers who helped populate the West coast of America when they funded the railroads. Would Silicon Valley be what it is today without visionaries like Morgan, Stanford and Stevens pushing to lay the tracks for a new dawn of transportation and will it stagnate in a cacophony of ever improving email widgets without them?
The urban air mobility market is set to explode, but if we want to reach the $1 trillion mark as projected in the next decade or so, we need to start building and funding the right infrastructure to support it. As Ricky Sandhu, the Founder and Executive Chairman of Urban-Air Port, said:
"Cars need roads. Trains need railroads. Planes need airports. eVTOLs need Urban-Air Ports. Infrastructure is too often overlooked."
If we want the industry to achieve escape velocity, we need to start investing in the ‘railroads’, enabling the skies below commercial airspace to open up and solving stakeholder problems to allow it to soar.
(Lexica)
Avolon, the aircraft leasing company, has invested $2 billion.
The investment will be used to purchase electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft from Vertical Aerospace, a UK company that is planning to go public. Avolon has placed firm orders for 310 eVTOL aircraft worth $1.25 billion and 190 stock options worth $750 million. The rapid proliferation of flying taxi start-ups could soon pose competition to passenger planes.
Air Greenland has committed to purchasing or leasing a fleet of Vertical Aerospace VX4 eVTOL aircraft from Avolon. The intention behind the agreement is to bring zero-emissions air travel to the region and help tackle the issue of climate change.
(Avolon)
Delta Airlines Invests Up To $200 million In Joby Aviation.
Delta Airlines will invest $60 million in Joby Aviation, a leading electric air taxi startup, to create a “home-to-airport” service using the startup’s five-seat electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, the companies announced. Delta said its investment in Joby could go as high as $200 million if the company hits certain milestones.
The service, which will launch first in New York City and Los Angeles with other cities to follow, will be “mutually exclusive” across the US and UK for five years, with the option to extend that exclusivity for longer, the companies said.
(Delta)
Oklahoma City 40,000 Jobs & $5 billion In Economic Activity
Oklahoma City-based DronePort Network has entered into a partnership with Osage LLC to develop and manage Skyway 36, a state-of-the-art facility near Tulsa. This facility will be a key component of the Tulsa Regional Advanced Mobility (TRAM) Corridor project, one of four planned operating nodes connecting Oklahoma State University, Osage, and Tulsa facilities within a 114-nautical mile flight corridor for unmanned aerial system and advanced air mobility research and testing.
According to a press release from DronePort Network, the Skyway 36 facility will feature nearly 2,300 square miles of airspace for flight testing, a hangar, office space, a runway, and helipad space for unmanned aerial systems and electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles.
The TRAM project, which is funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration's Build Back Better American Rescue Plan. The TRAM Corridor aims to attract and support growth in the advanced mobility space in Tulsa, establishing a 114 nautical mile, Beyond Visual Line of Sight commercial flight corridor and increasing research and development activity in the region, as well as skilled workforce and a new industrial treatment facility.
(IMA)
Skyportz Closes Funding Raise, Australia Releases $18m
“The Emerging Aviation Technology Partnerships Program will ensure our aviation sector remains at the forefront of innovation as it continues to develop and grow, particularly with renewed focus on achieving net zero carbon emissions”, said Minister Catherine King
(Skyportz)
Aura Raises $75 million
Aura Network Systems, a Virginia-based company developing a wireless communications network for unpiloted and autonomous aircraft, has raised $75 million in its latest funding round. To date, Aura has raised about $110 million to build out its wireless network, which consists of 57 sites providing nationwide coverage across all 50 U.S. states, as well as Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa. Last week the company announced it had received a $55 million investment from Fortress Investment Group and another $20 million from two previous investors, Mudrick Capital Management and Tracker Capital Management.
(Future Flight)
Stellantis To Support Archer
Stellantis NV, (Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Mopar, Opel, Peugeot, Ram, and Vauxhall) and Archer Aviation have announced a deal to manufacture the eVTOL aircraft, Midnight. Stellantis will provide advanced manufacturing technology, expertise, personnel, and capital to the project, as well as up to $150 million in equity capital for Archer to draw on at its discretion in 2023 and 2024. The company plans to increase its strategic shareholding in Archer through purchases of Archer stock in the open market.
Thank you all so much for subscribing and sharing the newsletter. Please continue to circulate within your network. Next weeks edition has some interesting background and legal discussions.
Background Reading
https://press.stripe.com/where-is-my-flying-car