Hydrogen-powered aircraft: Beyond Aero raises $44 million
The start-up has announced a $20 million Series A funding round led by UK fund Giant Ventures and the Deep Tech 2030 fund, managed on behalf of the French government by Bpifrance as part of the France 2030 plan. Including equity, debt and subsidies, the total comes to $44 million.
As we announced at the start of the year, Beyond Aero has achieved major milestones in the development of its hydrogen-powered aircraft programme, notably by completing – in February – France’s first manned flight, powered entirely by hydrogen-electric propulsion. A little later, the company appointed Luiz Oliveira – a former technical expert on Embraer’s hydrogen hybrid programme – as Chief Engineer.
A visionary leader
This fund-raising has added even more weight to the company’s case. ‘Eloa Guillotin is the most visionary aerospace executive to date,’ enthuses Jon Dishotsky, partner at Giant Ventures. He continues: ‘Her bold ambition to transform aviation with hydrogen-electric powered aircraft is fully in line with our mission to support impact entrepreneurs committed to solving the biggest challenges of our time. ‘We have formed a powerful alliance with investors in Europe and the United States. Giant Ventures provides us with strategic support, a network of customers and an international perspective’, says Beyond Aero’s CEO.
Beyond Aero has already begun deploying $12 million to build the world’s most powerful integrated hydrogen electric propulsion test centre in Toulouse. This state-of-the-art facility will test all components of the manufacturer’s propulsion system, including hydrogen tanks, fuel cells and electrical systems. The laboratory replicates one of the aircraft’s two engines and will enable the technology to be raised to TRL6 level, with a power output of over 600 kW.
At the same time, the company has secured $914 million in letters of intent for 108 aircraft.
PS: You can sign up to our newsletters to follow the latest hydrogen news on a more regular basis:
– “Your hydrogen news live” (to receive all our articles as soon as they are published)
– “Your weekly newsletter” (sent every Monday morning).
Are you a LinkedIn user who would like to follow the latest hydrogen news on a more regular basis? Then our LinkedIn weekly newsletter may be what you’re looking for. You can subscribe to it here.
