Translink joins $94m round for Germany’s Volocopter
Translink Capital, a US-based VC focused on facilitating cross-border connections with Asia, has joined a EUR87 million ($94 million) for German flying car developer Volocopter.
Translink, which is backed by Japan Airlines and Sompo Japan Insurance, was joined by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, German logistics giant DB Schenker, and US early-stage investor MS&AD Ventures. It brings the company’s total funding to date to EUR122 million.
The investment coincides with confirmation that Volocopter and Singapore-based ride-hailing player Grab will jointly explore developing an air taxi service across a number of Southeast Asian cities. This followed closely on a test flight over Singapore’s Marina Bay coordinated with local government.
“This cooperation is another important step towards the commercialization of urban air mobility in one of the most traffic-congested regions of the world,” Florian Reuter, Volocopter’s CEO, said in a statement. “Together, we will learn from unprecedented insights into the economic and societal opportunity of launching our services on the hottest routes in the Southeast Asian market.
“This collaboration also offers the potential for a much larger cooperation which could eventually extend intermodal mobility to the skies.”
The latest investment will be used to bring the company’s VoloCity model of vertical take-off and landing aircraft closer to certification. It will also be applied to the expansion of the technical team and commercialization of VoloDrone, an unmanned heavy-lift cargo model targeting the logistics, agriculture, public services, and construction industries.
Volocopter was founded in 2011 and executed the first-ever manned flight of a purely electric multi-copter later the same year. Other investors include UK-based Manta Ray Ventures, US-based Intel Capital, and German auto giant Daimler. Last year, the company received a EUR50 million round led by Chinese carmaker Geely with a view to developing an air mobility business in China.
Flying cars represent a quickly emerging investor segment that combines disciplines, business model innovation, and social themes related to vehicle electrification, the sharing economy, drones, and industrial automation.
Last month, the VC unit of Japan’s TDK Corporation made an investment of undisclosed size in AutoFlightX, a Germany-based electric air mobility player with a strong China presence. AutoFlightX, which similarly focuses on vertical take-off vehicles for cargo and passengers, is also backed by Intel Capital.
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