SkyDrive has raised $55m (8bn Japanese yen) across its Series C after securing additional funding through a third-party allocation of new shares.
The allocation to Energy & Environment Investment, Inventum Ventures, Mizuho Bank and Osaka Metro Co. is the third additional Series C funding round after earlier rounds in April 2023 and January 2024.
With this investment, SkyDrive said it plans to upgrade its facilities and organisation for ground and flight testing. Additionally, the the Japanese firm is to expand key departments such as quality assurance to support the transition to mass production.
Tomohiro Fukuzawa, CEO of SkyDrive said: “Since the Series C funding in September 2022, we have been able to make great progress in the development of our eVTOL aircraft with many top-class engineers from around the world joining our team. With the cooperation of Suzuki Motor Corporation, a shareholder and strong production partner, we announced the start of production of ‘SkyDrive’ at Suzuki Group’s manufacturing plant in March 2024.”
SkyDrive has received a total of 263 pre-orders for its eVTOL from Japan, the United States, South Korea and Vietnam. SkyDrive will also develop a digital platform that will enable it to manage aircraft data throughout the entire lifecycle.
“In terms of business development, we are also working with Suzuki to develop the market in India and have concluded a strategic partnership with the government of Gujarat,” added Fukuzawa. “In the US, we established SkyDrive America, Inc. in September 2023, and are currently developing practical use cases originating from regional airports in South Carolina, Georgia, and other states.”
Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) accepted an application for type certification of SkyDrive’s eVTOL in 2021 and in 2022 JCAB and SkyDrive agreed on the certification basis. SkyDrive is currently in the process of agreeing on the certification plan with the regulator. After the certification plan is agreed, SkyDrive will conduct ground tests and flight tests to verify that its aircraft meets the required standards and performance criteria.
