Germany won’t fund eVTOL startup Lilium

The German magazine Der Spiegel writes, citing representatives of the budget committee, that there was no agreement last week on a potential 50 million euro loan for Lilium and that the committee will no longer put the issue on the agenda. Lilium has yet to react to the alleged cancellation. The Munich-based startup has long been struggling to obtain a state guarantee for a loan of at least 100 million euros – and had threatened to leave Germany if this did not work out.

The German state of Bavaria pledged 50 million euros in September – on the condition that the federal government would provide support in the same amount. As that is apparently off the table, there is once again a question mark over the Bavarian guarantee. The German press agency dpa quotes Frank Schäffler, the responsible rapporteur for the FDP. “I think it would be wrong to provide aid for Lilium.” The risk for the federal government is far too high – “if Bavaria wants to take on this subsidy, then it should do so alone.”

The current decision was preceded by a so-called due diligence review, which the federal government and the Free State of Bavaria had commissioned the state development bank KfW to carry out. Depending on the outcome, Lilium was to receive a potential state guarantee as collateral for a KfW loan. According to earlier information, Lilium is aiming for a loan volume of at least 100 million euros. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) is considered to favour the support. His ministry declared in September that it welcomed the Bavarian cabinet’s decision.

From Bavaria, the state government announced that the vote in favour of state support for Lilium was an “industrial policy decision by the Minister President and the entire cabinet.” However, the German state explicitly linked its commitment to a guarantee from the federal government. The coming days and weeks will show how Bavaria will position itself after the presumed cancellation.

Lilium is also likely to make a statement soon. Founded by Technical University of Munich graduates, the startup is developing a vertical take-off electric aeroplane with seven seats. Only in the summer did the company announce a major order from Saudi Arabia with a firm order for 50 eVTOLs. The development of the electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) is costly. The company employs 850 people at its headquarters in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich, but has yet to generate any turnover. According to media reports, Lilium has already received 1.5 billion euros from investors and has largely used it up. According to Der Spiegel the capital requirement until the planned type certification in 2026 should be between 300 and 500 million euros. The first manned flight is scheduled for 2025.

Update 18 October 2024

It had already become apparent, now it’s final: The flying taxi developer Lilium will not receive any state funding in Germany – not from the federal government and consequently not from Bavaria either. On Thursday, representatives of the German federal government confirmed that there was no majority in favour of the project. We have summarised further information in this article.

spiegel.de (in German)