Volocopter aims for $10bn IPO, urban air mobility as the Tesla of the sky

Despite ongoing interest from potential suitors, Saudi-backed Volocopter, the inventor of the air taxi, said it anticipates remaining independent until after its first commercial flights in 2024, with a public market offering anticipated the following year.

Volocopter’s launch funding has topped $518 million, and the business is still raising money. It has received $182 million from Neom of Saudi Arabia, which is developing a future metropolis on the Red Sea, and money from a fund supported by Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding  Group Co.

For the future air mobility of Saudi megacities, NEOM last week announced a USD 175 million investment in Volocopter, a pioneer of Urban Air Mobility. The land of the future mega-project will acquire a sizeable equity investment in the business as part of its strategic involvement with the global eVTOL market, establishing it as a pioneer in cutting-edge mobility solutions. According to NEOM’s cutting-edge mobility strategy, this arrangement will deepen its strategic alliance with Volocopter and improve Saudi Arabia’s air mobility sector. The LINE, OXAGON, and TROJENA will all have electric air taxi services provided by Volocopter.

According to CEO Dirk Hoke, starting passenger services in time for the Paris Olympics may offer the German firm an advantage over rivals and contribute to a valuation of $10.2 billion or more. “Our shareholders invested with the target of an IPO,” Hoke said at the launch of a vertiport near Paris, where trials will be conducted before the games. “We believe we can be a double-digit billion-euro company.”

Hoke claimed that potential suitors looking for an easy way into a market that could become one of the most lucrative in aviation should it proliferate as predicted find the Volocopter, which has so far raised money solely through a series of funding rounds, to be attractive.

Former Daimler executive and current Chief Commercial Officer Christian Bauer claimed that as air taxis grow in scale, they have the potential to be just as revolutionary as Tesla Inc. cars. “Tesla started with a two-seater because the battery technology wasn’t there and now they are the most valuable car brand in the world,” he said. “That’s where we want to go.”

“The best time for the IPO will be when we have the commercial license, when we have the first revenues, when we have the first profitability,” Bauer said. No venue has yet been picked, and the timing will depend on market conditions, though could be held as soon as 2025, he said.