EHang delays IPO, turns to venture

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EHang has delayed its plans for an initial public offering (IPO), turning instead to venture capital – hoping to raise up to $200 million privately.

The company is delaying the IPO to raise capital from private investors, two company insiders have told Reuters.

EHang had been looking to raise between $400 and $500 million through the IPO and was reported to be working with Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse working on the offering. The Chinese drone and budding eVTOL manufacturer has a US headquarters based in San Carlos, California.

The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in China’s Guangzhou province, where it conducts flight tests in a defunct theme park. EHang first revealed its eVTOL in 2017 and said it would retail at up to $300,000.

A video of the EHang 184 eVTOL conducting test flights first surfaced in 6 Feburary 2018. EHang has a steady revenue stream to develop the aircraft from its main hobby-drone business.

The manufacturer has partnered with aviation technology giant FACC to jointly develop and research new technologies for autonomous air vehicles. According to Derrick Xiong, EHang’s CEO, all money earned from drone sales is pumped back into the development of the 184

EHang has also secured venture capital funding in the past. According to Crunchbase, EHang has launched two separate venture capital investment rounds in 2014 and 2015 for $10 million and $42 million apiece.

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