$23m for electric aircraft development
06 Sep 2022 - Investment activity
The St Baker Energy Innovation Fund, IP Group Australia and superannuation funds, Hostplus and TelstraSuper are among investors providing $23 million in Series B funding for electric aircraft start-up AMSL Aero.
Sydney-based AMSL has developed Vertiia, an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Vertiia has a maximum speed of about 300kmh and is expected to fill roles as an air taxi and air ambulance as well as providing economic fast transport between regional communities.
The current design is driven by eight, variable angle, electric powered propellers but is also suitable to be fitted with hydrogen power. Under electric power, the aircraft has a range of about 250km. Hydrogen power could extend this to 1,000km or more.
The new funding will enable AMSL to accelerate its flight test and certification program and grow its commercial team. The company expects to begin flight testing before the end of this year and has been working with the Civil Aviation and safety Authority since 2018 to ensure it will be able to gain regulatory approval when testing is completed. It is expected that Vertiia will be allowed to operate under similar regulations as helicopters.
AMSL was set up in 2017 by husband-and-wife team Andrew Moore and Siobhan Lyndon. Moore was a former Yamaha Motor Australia aeronautical engineer while Lyndon was formerly Australian director of people operations for Google.
AMSL received early funding from IP Australia. CareFlight partnered with the company in 2020 and anticipates using Vertiia for its emergency services in the future.
The prototype aircraft has been developed in collaboration with the federal government-funded Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, the University of Sydney and carbon filament producer CST Composites.
The partnership between AMSL and CareFlight was funded by a $3 million Cooperative Research Centres Project Grant from the federal government for a two-year collaborative project involving the University of Sydney and autonomy and sensing specialist Mission Systems.
Image: AMSL Aero’s Vertiia prototype at Bankstown Airport, Sydney.