Flying taxis are getting closer as Lilium raises a whopping $90M Series B Round

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If you thought flying taxis were just something that you saw in Back To The Future II, and, like the Hoverboard would only become a reality as part of a bizarre publicity stunt…it looks like you’d be wrong. With $90B in new capital from some pretty awesome investors like Obvious, Atomico and Tencent to name a few, Lilium is working hard to make flying taxis a reality and it’s not as far off as you might think.

Here’s a fun video of the maiden flight of the Lilium jet:

If you’re wondering if $90M is a normal Series B round…it’s not, the average Series B round falls in the $10M – $15M range (source). B Rounds this big go to only the biggest ideas and well, flying taxis are a pretty big idea if they take off (pun intended). The new round is critical to the company’s success since it will provide the funding for a jet that can hold five people because that’s what you really need to play ball in the flying taxi world.

“This investment is a tremendously important step for Lilium, as it enables us to make the five-seat jet a reality,” noted Lilium cofounder and CEO Daniel Wiegand. “This is the next stage in our rapid evolution from an idea to the production of a commercially successful aircraft that will revolutionize the way we travel in and around the world’s cities.” (Source – VentureBeat)

I know what you’re thinking. Okay, but if these jets ever see the light of day they’re going to be ten times the price of a taxi. Actually, Lilium expects to be able to fly people from popular destinations like the JFK airport to downtown Manhattan for less than what a taxi charges today, here’s a look at their planned route from JFK:

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Congrats to the whole team at Lilium, I love people who do things that most of us think is impossible, heck it’s been my mantra for some time now. I also think that technology is moving at such a fast pace today that things like this that once sounded impossible are actually starting to sound more and more possible by the day. With an incredible team and some truly visionary investors behind them, it’s safe to say the sky is the limit, literally.

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton