Upon closing its Series D funding round, which raised $240m (€200m), eVTOL manufacturer Volocopter has now pooled nearly $400m (€322m) across all funding rounds. The company said the money will be used to bring its air taxi, VoloCity, to certification and to accelerate the launch of its first commercial routes.

Volocopter is the only electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) company to receive Design Organisation Approval (DOA) by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). It expects to open the first commercial air taxi routes within the next two years.

Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter, said: “No other electric air taxi company has publicly performed as many flights in cities around the world, with full regulatory approval, as Volocopter has.”

Volocopter has developed aircraft (VoloCity and VoloDrone) as well as landing and digital infrastructure (VoloPort and VoloIQ).

The company’s chief financial officer, Rene Griemens, said: “Our shareholder structure remains well balanced with a healthy mix of strategic and financial partners spread as globally as our business ambitions.”

New investors include funds managed by BlackRock, global infrastructure company Atlantia S.p.A., Avala Capital, mobility technology giant Continental AG, global technology focused investment fund Jericho Capital, global technology and business solutions provider NTT via its venture capital arm, Tokyo Century, a leading Japanese leasing company, leading family offices, and others.

All existing investors, including Geely, Daimler, DB Schenker, Intel Capital, btov Partners, Team Europe, and Klocke Holding amongst others, also joined the round.

The company has committed to establishing air taxi services in Singapore and Paris with plans to expand more routes in the US, Asia, and Europe.