Lilium has secured a funding lifeline of up to $250 million which the start-up says should tide it through to a crucial development milestone.
Munich-based Lilium says the capital raise will see it receive an initial $100 million from Aceville Pte Ltd, an affiliate of existing Chinese investor Tencent Holdings which participated in funding rounds in 2020 and 2022.
Singapore-based Aceville will put forward a further $75 million provided Lilium can match this with funds raised from “equity, debt or grants”.
Aceville has committed to pre-fund 184,210,526 warrants in Lilium stock, exercisable at $1.00 per share. The company’s valuation has steadily slid since floatation in 2021, with shares currently trading at $0.43.
Lilium says the capital injection will “cover most of the estimated capital required to achieve” the first flight of its type-conforming Lilium Jet in the second half of 2024.
Reaching that milestone for the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft will then trigger the release of pre-delivery payments “which will help fund its subsequent capital requirements”, it says.
“With this financing, we are excited to continue our development programme at full pace,” says Lilium chief executive Klaus Roewe.
Discussions continue with existing and potential new investors regarding additional funding, he adds.
As of 31 March, Lilium had $157 million of cash, cash equivalents and other financial assets to hand. Earlier this year, it said it would spend €250 million ($270 million) on its development programme in 2023.
