Japan's TDK invests air mobility developer

TDK Ventures invested via its recently launched a $50 million fund, which focuses on early-stage start-ups in advanced technology globally. This is the fund’s fourth investment to date and its first outside of the US.

AutoFlightX was founded in 2018 by Tian Yu, who previously founded Yuneec, a Chinese drone manufacturer that received at least $60 million in funding from Intel Capital. AutoFlightX describes itself as an air cargo and air taxi maker specializing in vertical take-off and landing systems.

Operations span a head office in Munich and two R&D facilities in Shanghai and Shenzhen, employing more than 100 engineers. “We believe AutoFlightX’s innovations reflect a combination of the best consumer drone talent from China paired with the aviation engineering rigor of Germany,” Nicolas Sauvage, a managing director at TDK Ventures, said in a statement.

AutoFlightX currently focuses on drones for industrial and emergency response applications. Products include a model that can carry payloads of 20 kilograms with a flight time of up to five hours of continuous use. The company has recently completed a test flight for a model that can carry payloads of 100 kg. By 2025, it aims to offer an air taxi for up to four passengers that has a range of around 300 kilometers on a single charge.

Precedent for this ambition includes Uber launching two air taxi programs, as well as a $90 million round for German flying car maker Lilium led by China’s Tencent Holdings. Meanwhile, Germany’s Volocopter has received investment from Chinese auto maker Geely, and US-based Joby Aviation has been backed by Singapore’s EDBI. Both plan to accelerate air taxi deployments in their Asian investors’ respective home markets.

Last year, Japanese flying car developer SkyDrive raised $14 million from a group of local investors including Itochu Technology Ventures, Drone Fund, and Strive, formerly Gree Ventures. SkyDrive claims to have executed Japan’s first flying car test with an unmanned vehicle. A public demonstration of a manned flight has been scheduled for later this year, with a view to achieving commercialization in 2023.

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