Indoor electric air taxi startup Lilium may finally be saved

A consortium of investors resurrected Lilium just days after its electric air taxi launch. stopped working and laid off nearly 1,000 workers.

Mobile Uplift Corporation, founded by investors from Europe and North America, has agreed to acquire the operating assets of the startup’s two subsidiaries, Lilium GmbH and Lilium eAircraft GmbH. according to an announcement on tuesday.

Parent company Lilium NV will not receive any funds under German bankruptcy law.

Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in January, were not disclosed. Consulting giant KPMG managed Lilium’s sales process. This was reported by Mobile Uplift Corporation in the announcement intends to rehire the dismissed employees immediately after the process is opened and the transaction is closed. It is unclear if all 1,000 workers will be rehired.

When reached for comment by TechCrunch, Lilium spokeswoman Christine Pierk did not provide any new information or respond to TechCrunch’s questions about the deal.

After the deal closes, the new owners plan to restructure Lilium, allowing the company to emerge from bankruptcy with no technological flaws and no debt.

“We are very pleased to announce the signing of an investment agreement with a consortium of very experienced investors, which is a major step forward,” Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe said in the announcement. “The deal, which closes in early January, will allow us to restart our business.”

Before going public on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in 2021, Lilium had raised more than $1 billion from private investors through a reverse merger with SPAC Gell.

Lilium has successfully landed customers, including an order for 100 electric aircraft from Saudi Arabia. But the company spent money faster than it could raise more money from investors as it worked to develop a 100 km/h vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft.

Lily filed for bankruptcy – The US equivalent of bankruptcy – after failing to secure emergency funding in October.