Lilium Aerospace has filed for bankruptcy after failing to secure new funding from a consortium of investors, which had promised to raise around 200 million euros for the Lilium Jet eVTOL project.
The company had taken over the assets of Lilium GmbH and Lilium eAircradt GmbH, which had filed for bankruptcy in October.
On December 24, shortly before the deadline to find an investor, a consortium of investors called Mobile Uplift Corporation (MUC) announced its interest in saving the German startup.
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“While talks about alternative solutions are still ongoing, the chance for restructuring right now is highly unlikely and therefore operations will be stopped,” Lilium said on February 21. “Given the situation, this is deeply regretful for all employees and Lilium Aerospace thanks them for their resilience and dedication.”
It is understood that many employees who were laid off in December are still not receiving their overdue salaries. Some of them have even been called back to work, however.
Electric aviation initiatives fail
After several years of numerous electric aircraft projects emerging around the world, in recent months three very advanced initiatives have had difficulty remaining in operation.
In addition to Lilium, another German eVTOL startup, Volocopter, has filed for bankruptcy and is trying to seek investment to avoid closing.
A few days ago, Eviation, a company that designs the Alice, an electric aircraft for nine passengers, confirmed that it was laying off most of its employees while it rethinks its strategy.
