CET 10.33 Roma, Friday, 4 March 2022. Atlantia SpA has taken part in the latest (series E) financing round of Volocopter, the German-based leader in Urban Air Mobility solutions. The Company has invested a further €35m, following its subscription for new shares in Volocopter worth €15m in March 2021.
Volocopter is the pioneer in the development of Urban Air Mobility (“UAM”) technologies for use in the design and production of fully sustainable electric vertical takeoff and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft, capable of transporting people and goods. The technology effectively reduces the impact on the surrounding area to zero, providing emission-free transport without adding to noise levels.
“We are incredibly grateful for Atlantia’s strong vote of confidence in Volocopter and for backing our convenient and sustainable mode of urban travel,” said Christian Bauer, CCO of Volocopter. “This reinvestment in our Series E funding round strengthens our partnership and brings us one step closer to our commercial launch, which will benefit not just the people of Rome, but people across Italy as a whole.”
Last November, an innovative model of the eVTOL was exhibited for the first time at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport and in the centre of the capital city thanks to the partnership between Atlantia, Aeroporti di Roma and Volocopter. The launch of commercial services in major cities such as Rome, Paris and Singapore is expected to take place in 2024, once all the necessary certificates of airworthiness have been issued by the EASA (the European Union Aviation Safety Agency) and, in Italy, ENAC (the country’s Civil Aviation Authority).
Atlantia has also been working on the establishment of Urban Blue, a new company owned by Aeroporti di Roma, Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur, Aeroporto di Venezia and Aeroporto Guglielmo Marconi di Bologna, with the aim of enabling and accelerating the development of global urban air mobility infrastructure, starting from vertical takeoff airports (or vertiports).