Japan flying car player SkyDrive gets $67m Series C

Pegasus is best known as an investor in SpaceX, AirBnb, Coinbase, Robinhood, GoTo, and Impossible Foods. It has about USD 2bn under management.

Kansai electric Power, Kintetsu Group, MUFG Bank, NHK Spring, Nippon Kayaku, Resona Holdings, SCSK Corporation, Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Tokio Marine Holdings, and Toyoda Iron Works also participated.

SkyDrive is developing flying cars and cargo drones capable of transporting objects weighing 30 kg. Flying cars – called generally electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft – are characterised by a fully autonomous autopilot and hovering rotors.

The flagship project, SD-05, is a two-seater vehicle planned to provide an air taxi service in the Osaka Bay area at the time of the Osaka Expo in 2025. The first manned flight was achieved in 2019 and a collaboration agreement with the Osaka government was established last year.

Further progress includes work with the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport & Tourism to establish a certification basis for airworthiness inspection. Certification expenses for aircraft represent more than half of their total cost, compared to 5-7% for automobiles.

Cargo drones are also a significant part of the business plan, and they are scheduled to roll out prior to air mobility services with a focus on industrial use cases. Development agreements have been signed with the city of Toyota and an unnamed electrical utility.

Discussions are also underway with strategic investors to achieve various technical and regulatory milestones. Suzuki is supporting mass production and potential sales in India and other parts of Asia; SCSK is collaborating on software; Tokio Marine is helping develop insurance; and Toyoda is cooperating on parts development.

The Series C brings total funding to JPY 14.7bn since SkyDrive's inception in 2018. It follows a JPY 3.9bn Series B in 2020 featuring Sumitomo Mitsui Finance & Leasing Company, Development Bank of Japan, Strive, Drone Fund, Eneos Innovation Partners, Energy & Environment Investment, Itochu Corporation, NEC Corporation, Obayashi Corporation, VeriServe Corporation, and Z Corporation.

“This is an important moment for the aircraft industry in Japan and Asia because eVTOL and flying cars are a good opportunity to join an industry dominated by the US and EU,” Tomohiro Fukuzawa, SkyDrive’s president and CEO, told AVCJ at the time of the Series B.

“Flying cars have a lot fewer parts than traditional big aircraft, and Japan has already proven that it’s very good at cars and small mobility. Our product will not only change cargo businesses and daily life in urban transport, but it will also help develop a new industry of aircraft OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] in Asia.”

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Technology
• Early-stage
• Expansion
• Japan
• Sumitomo Mitsui
• Transportation
• Logistics