Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios
Volocopter, a German eVTOL developer, raised $170 million in Series E funding at a $1.7 billion pre-money valuation. WP Investment led, and was joined by Honeywell and insiders Atlantia, Whysol and btov Partners.
Why it matters: The aerospace upstart also disclosed a commercial launch deadline of mid-2024 in Paris, just in time for the Summer Olympics. Doesn't mean Volocopter will hit that mark, or that it won't fly earlier, but it's nice to have some particulars on the promise.
Other existing investors include BlackRock, Daimler, Geely, Intel and Tokyo Century.
The bottom line: "The announcement of the funding doesn't have even a single mention of autonomy or self-driving capabilities, underscoring some more realistic framing as these services get closer to being rolled out." — Ingrid Lunden, TechCrunch