The Munich startup Vaeridion has secured 14 million euros to develop an electric aircraft that will carry passengers on short routes across Europe by 2030.
“The microliner looks like a normal airplane and takes off from a runway – the only difference is that it runs on batteries,” Vaeridion co-founder and CEO Ivor van Dartel told TNW an interview last month. “For operators and passengers, the experience will be essentially the same.”
Climate technology VC based in Berlin World Fund led the Series A investment with participation from Project A Ventures, Vsquared Ventures, Schwarz Holding, InnovationQuarter and angel investor Andreas Kupke.
“Our new funding will significantly accelerate development efforts and pave the way for the launch of certification-compliant prototype flights in 2027, followed by a first commercial flight in 2030,” Van Dartel said.
The news comes just a month after Vaeridion became the first general aviation manufacturer to enter into a pre-application agreement (PAC) with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), marking a major step towards commercial flights.
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Vaeridion's technical manager, Markus Kochs Kämper, called it “a huge milestone” in the development of its Microliner. “This initiative allows us to de-risk our core technology and path to certification of our electric aircraft before submitting a type certificate application,” he told TNW at the time.
Van Dartel and Sebastian Seemann – both former Airbus and ZF engineers – founded Vaeridion in 2021. Their vision was to build an electric aircraft to replace jet aircraft on regional flights.
Preliminary tests put the Microliner's range at around 500 km, the company said. Accordingly, in 2022, almost a third of flights in the EU covered this distance or less Eurocontrol.
Vaeridion's design is similar to existing regional aircraft, which could reduce development and manufacturing costs compared to more experimental electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) models, which often require complicated propulsion systems and vertical lift capabilities.
The company has already won its first customers: the Dutch private jet operator ASL Group, the German business airline Aero-dienst and the Danish companies Copenhagen AirTaxi and Copenhagen Helicopter.
Aero-dienst and Vaeridion are also working together on the possible introduction of an electric rescue aircraft for the German ADAC, Europe's largest automobile club.
“Our partnerships and market-driven strategy reflect our commitment to not only decarbonize short-haul flights across Europe, but also to set a new standard for sustainable and energy-efficient aviation at a competitive price,” said Van Dartel.
Vaeridion estimates that a trip on the Microliner will cost between 150 and 300 euros. The aircraft will initially serve business passengers before expanding to private travel, the company said.
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