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Volocopter

Aviation · Bruchsal, Germany · Founded 2011

Volocopter GmbH, founded in 2011 by Stephan Wolf, Alexander Zosel, and Thomas Senkel, is a German company developing electrically powered vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for urban air mobility (UAM). The idea originated when Wolf, a software development specialist, envisioned scaling up drone technology for human transport. This concept led to the company's first manned flight of an electric multicopter in October 2011. A significant milestone was achieved in 2013 with a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign that raised €500,000 in under three hours to build the two-seat VC200 prototype. Over the years, Volocopter has secured substantial funding from investors including Geely Holding, Daimler, Intel Capital, BlackRock, and NEOM, with a total raised capital of over $726 million. The company operates in the emerging UAM market, targeting both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) segments. Its business model centers on providing air taxi services, and it plans to generate revenue through these operations and strategic partnerships. Volocopter is developing a comprehensive ecosystem that includes the aircraft, takeoff and landing infrastructure called "VoloPorts," and a proprietary software platform, VoloIQ. VoloIQ, powered by AI and running on Microsoft Azure, is designed to manage and optimize flight operations, fleet management, and urban integration. The company collaborates closely with aviation regulators like the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and city municipalities to ensure safety, certification, and the seamless integration of its services into urban transportation networks. Volocopter's product family includes several eVTOL models tailored for different missions. The flagship VoloCity is a two-seater aircraft designed for intra-city passenger transport, featuring 18 rotors for redundancy and safety. It is engineered to be notably quiet and produce zero in-flight emissions. The VoloRegion is a larger aircraft capable of carrying up to four passengers over longer, suburban-to-city routes. For logistics, the company has developed the VoloDrone, an unmanned aircraft for cargo transport. Volocopter has conducted numerous public test flights in cities like Dubai, Singapore, Helsinki, and New York. Having received Design Organisation Approval (DOA) from EASA and becoming the first eVTOL developer to be an Approved Training Organisation (ATO), Volocopter is working towards commercial service launches in cities such as Paris, Rome, Singapore, and NEOM. Keywords: Urban Air Mobility, eVTOL, electric aircraft, air taxi, Volocopter, Alexander Zosel, Stephan Wolf, VoloCity, VoloRegion, VoloDrone, VoloIQ, sustainable aviation, electric vertical takeoff and landing, passenger drone, cargo drone, autonomous flight, EASA certification, advanced air mobility, smart city transportation, zero-emission aviation, vertiport infrastructure, UAM ecosystem, future of transport, flying taxi service