Last-minute rescue: Lilium finds investor

Lilium has announced that the investor consortium Mobile Uplift Corporation has signed a purchase agreement for the assets of the Lilium subsidiaries. According to Lilium, the investors – it is not yet known exactly who they are – come from Europe and North America. The 750 employees who were made redundant on Friday before Christmas will be brought back.

The transaction is currently expected to be finalised at the beginning of January 2025. “We are very pleased to announce the signing of an investment agreement with a very experienced consortium of investors, which is a major breakthrough” Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe said. “Deal closing at the beginning of January will allow us to restart our business.”

It has been quite a ride for Lilium. Founded in 2015, the startup was long regarded as a promising developer of an electric flying taxi, a so-called eVTOL. The first flight was scheduled for early 2025.

However, Lilium needed an extremely large amount of capital for development. Investors poured around 1.5 billion euros into the startup, but were ultimately unwilling to add more.

First, it looked as though it would get funding from the German government on the state and federal level.  In mid-October, however, it became clear that neither the federal government nor the Free State of Bavaria would provide any financial support, and Lilium filed for insolvency.

Then, there were reports the company had found an investor, followed by reports that the company would be liquidated. But now, the course seems to have been. But only at the last minute, as the employees’ salaries will only be paid by the labour office until the end of the year as part of the insolvency benefits. After that, Lilium would have had to pay the employees itself again.