German eVTOL startup Lilium has ceased operations as of this week, sunsetting a decade-long effort funded with over US$1 billion to build electric air taxis, with nary a single aircraft delivered.
The news comes from co-founder Dr. Patrick Nathen, who made the announcement via a LinkedIn post spotted by TechCrunch. It follows a report dated December 20 from German outlet Gründerszene, which stated that nearly 1,000 Lilium employees had been laid off; only a small number would remain to manage the liquidation process.
We've known for a bit that the startup was in trouble. Back in October, the company had run out of money, failed to raise a $54-million injection from the German government to continue operations, and filed for insolvency for its two primary subsidiaries.
At that time, Lilium hoped to get things back on track by seeking out new investors and a supervisory custodian. It had also just inked a partnership with GE Aerospace to build flight data management solutions for eVTOL operators. Plus, the US Federal Aviation Administration had issued regulations paving the way for aviation firms to get their aircraft into the skies earlier that week in October.
Lilium was slated to conduct the first manned flight of its second Jet aircraft early in 2025, and deliver its first two machines in 2026. Orders of several Jets from US-based operator UrbanLink and Saudi Arabia's flag carrier, which it accepted earlier this year, will go unfulfilled.
Deep tech is inherently hard to get off the ground, but it's tragic when business failures in this space cost people their jobs. Nathen is confident that this isn't the end of the road for Lilium, signing off his post with, "Know this – we'll be back."
Source: Dr. Patrick Nathen (LinkedIn) / Gründerszene