Defunct Electric Aircraft Startup Lilium’s Tech Lives On Over At Archer

Electric craft startup Lilium whitethorn person ceased operations a twelvemonth ago, but its insolvency filing wasn’t rather nan extremity of nan German-based company.

There were aggregate grounded attempts to restructure nan company, including a last-ditch effort by Mobile Uplift Corporation, a institution group up by investors from Europe and North America, to get nan operating assets of nan startup’s 2 subsidiaries. Ultimately, a bankruptcy administrator put nan company’s assets done a competitory bid process.

Now, immoderate of its tech will unrecorded connected complete astatine Archer Aviation, which hit retired Ambitious Air Mobility Group and U.S. based Joby Aviation pinch the winning bid of €18 cardinal ($21 million) for each 300 of Lilium’s patent assets. Joby Aviation confirmed it participated successful nan bid.

Lilium, which was founded successful 2015, was processing a vertical take-off and landing craft pinch speeds of up to 100 km/h. The institution raised much than $1 cardinal from investors earlier going nationalist successful 2021 connected nan Nasdaq Exchange via a reverse merger pinch a blank-check company, SPAC Qell. While it managed to onshore high-profile investors for illustration Tencent and fastener successful customers, including an order for 100 electrical jets from Saudi Arabia, it burned done rate agelong earlier it could present a product.

An Archer spokesperson said nan patents span captious eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) technologies, including high-voltage systems, formation controls, ducted fans, and precocious craft design. The caller patents correspond a “strong addition” to Archer’s increasing IP portfolio, which now totals much than 1,000 world patent assets, nan spokesperson noted successful an email.

What Archer plans to do pinch those patents isn’t wholly clear, though location are hints. Lilium’s electrical ducted fans would beryllium a bully exertion for light-sport aliases location electrical formation — which goes beyond Archer’s original mission.

Archer, which went nationalist successful 2021 via a merger pinch a typical intent acquisition company, initially focused connected processing an aerial taxi network. It added a defense programme successful December, which included an exclusive woody pinch weapons shaper Anduril to jointly create a hybrid gas-and-electric-powered VTOL craft for captious defense applications.