Israeli eVTOL aircraft maker AIR has raised $23 million in a Series A funding round led by Entrée Capital. Notable investor Dr. Shmuel Harlap, an early backer of Mobileye, also participated.
This brings AIR’s total funding to around $50 million. Founded in 2018, the company began selling its AIR ONE, a two-seater personal aircraft, earlier this year.
The funding comes at a time when global interest in eVTOL aircraft is growing, driven in part by recent U.S. government initiatives that support the development and adoption of advanced air mobility technologies.
AIR CEO and co-founder Rani Plaut explained that while the company was founded in 2018, he joined as an investor in 2019 and later became CEO. “We’re rethinking how aircraft are built and operated,” he said. “Our platform uses automotive-grade technologies and is based on a patent by Chen Rosen. We’re building a vehicle that will eventually cost under $200,000.”
The AIR ONE is a two-seater aircraft made for personal and recreational flying, and it already has 2,500 pre-orders.
AIR is also working on unmanned models for uses like cargo delivery, emergency response, and defense. Early customers include the Israel Ministry of Defense, Singapore, and the Israeli Air Force, which bought the first unit in late 2022.
AIR runs test flight centers in the U.S., where it has carried out many autonomous night flights and BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) missions.
Its unmanned aircraft can fly up to 100 km, reach a top speed of 220 km/h, carry a 250 kg payload, and hold up to 2 cubic meters of cargo.
The company is also working on a hybrid version that uses an internal combustion engine to charge its batteries during flight.
AIR recently got approval to move forward with certifying the AIR ONE as a Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) under the FAA’s new MOSAIC rules. This puts AIR on track to be one of the first eVTOLs approved for personal use.
The company plans to deliver 15 cargo aircraft in the next year and then ramp up production to fulfill the 2,500 pre-orders for the AIR ONE.
AIR has about 50 employees, with its leading R&D and manufacturing center in Kfar Yona, Israel, and an operations center in Florida, USA.
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