Skyports extends Series A funding with Irelandia investment
eVTOL infrastructure developer Skyports has extended its Series A venture capital funding round with an investment from Irelandia Aviation – bringing its total capital raised to £6m.
Irelandia Aviation has invested £650,000 into the venture funding round first established in December last year. The original round totalled £5.4m and was led by Deutsche Bahn Digital Ventures and Groupe ADP.
Skyports intends to use the proceeds to acquire new sites, including expanding its presence in its target markets Singapore and Los Angeles. It also plans to add more staff to its urban and rural drone-delivery teams.
“The investment allows us to scale our teams and operations in multiple locations around the world,” a Skyports spokesperson told Helicopter Investor.
The company has partnered with eVTOL manufacturer Volocopter to establish the first Skyport in Singapore, where it is currently trialling flights. But it is also looking at potential eVTOL hotspots worldwide in which to set up bases.
“Our initial target markets are Singapore, which we think could be the first to market with commercial air taxi services, as well as Los Angeles and others on which we are working, but have not yet disclosed.
“We will target any market where the regulations are favourable, where an air-taxi manufacturer is intending to operate and where ground-based transport congestion levels create the economic and social conditions for air taxis to provide a complementary service.”
Democratising air travel
Irelandia Aviation is the investment arm of Ryanair co-founder Declan Ryan and has invested in four start-ups since 2007. Before backing Skyports, it invested $5m in Spanish drone manufacturer AERDRON in November 2017.
As part of Irelandia’s Series A investment in Skyports, Ryan will be joining Skyport’s board of directors.
Ryan said: “We are delighted to partner with the team at Skyports who have become leaders in the development of the infrastructure required to enable the UAM industry.
“We at Irelandia look forward to working with Skyports, aviation regulators, manufacturers and operators to expand in new markets and make UAM and drone services a reality globally. We look forward to furthering Irelandia’s demonstrated track record of democratizing air travel around the world.”
Skyports funding – at a glance
Money Raised: £6m total (£5.4m before extension)
Funding stage: Early stage venture
Funding type: Series A
Number of Investors: Four (Levitate Capital, Deutsche Bahn Digital Ventures, Groupe ADP and Irelandia)
