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eVTOL ride-sharing startup Overair raises $145M

Alan Neuhauser

A rendering of the multi-rotor, six-seat Overair Butterfly. Image courtesy of Overair.

The startup Overair has raised $145 million for its "Butterfly" electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, the company says.

Why it matters: The funding brings the startup a step closer to the first flight of a full-scale Butterfly in 2023 — and to eventually deploying a ride-sharing model.

The details: The investment was led by Hanwha Systems and Hanwha Aerospace, based in South Korea.

  • Overair is a spinoff of Karem Aircraft, which has a background in U.S. defense contracts.

Reality check: Overair and its tilt-rotor aircraft sits in the bottom half of the "Advanced Air Mobility Reality Index."

  • The index, from SMG Consulting, aims to track "progress toward the delivery of a certified product at mass scale production."
  • At the top of the list: Joby and Volocopter.

Zoom out: In price and travel time, eVTOLs can pose a challenge to airport taxis, regional flights and intercity rail like Amtrak.

  • Meanwhile, Axios' Joann Muller attended a gathering last week on advanced air mobility.
  • "Once far-fetched dreams for the future of transportation — delivery drones! driverless trucks! air taxis! — are starting to become reality, thanks in part to huge capital investments and technology advancements," she writes.
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