Skyfly raises €8.91 million to bring its Axe eVTOL to market and develop Longbow for defence

Skyfly Technologies, a British developer of electric and hybrid-electric vertical take-off aircraft, has closed an €8.91 million ($10 million) seed round led by HICO Investment Group, with participation from Archangel, a dedicated next-generation defence technology fund, EU-Startups reports. Founded in 2019 and based in Thorpe Mandeville, Oxfordshire, the company builds the Axe, a two-seat fully electric aircraft with a range of more than 100 miles, a 100mph cruise speed and a 200kg payload; eight fixed-angle motors lift it vertically before its wings take over, with no tilting rotors, and the winged design lets it glide in a power-loss scenario, the company says. The Longbow is a hybrid-electric unmanned derivative with a range exceeding 400 miles for cargo resupply, surveillance, medevac and ship-to-shore missions. The funding supports FAA Light Sport Aircraft certification for the Axe under the MOSAIC rules, manufacturing scale-up and Longbow development; both aircraft are built at Skyfly's 10,000 sq ft Oxfordshire facility under CTO Dr William Brooks, who has certified more than 2,000 aircraft.

DTT summary based on EU-Startups's report. The full article is on the publisher's site.