London-based Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Skyports, which builds landing pads for air taxis, has completed the final closing of its $3.13 million Series B capital increase. Funding came from ST Engineering Ventures, the venture capital arm of ST Engineering.
Singapore heavyweight joins Skyports’ investor roster, bringing total funding to $26.13 million. The first Series B round in March raised $23 million. Other Series B investors include Japanese conglomerate Kanematsu Corporation; global industrial property group Goodman Group; Italian airport platform 2i Aeroporti, backed by the Ardian Infrastructure Fund and F2i Italian Infrastructure Fund; and U.S.-based venture capital firm GreenPoint.
Duncan Walker, CEO of Skyports, said: “The Asian market is a key growth area for our commitment to AAM. The investment by Kanematsu Corporation and now ST Engineering shows that our confidence and focus on this market is well-founded , and is backed by industry leaders in the region. ST Engineering has been a strong partner to us for some time, and we are proud to continue to develop this relationship with the company, which joins Skyports as an investor. We look forward to adding Our expertise is combined to expand our capabilities.”
Heavyweight cooperation!
The collaboration combines Skyports’ flight operations capabilities and ST Engineering’s DroNet unmanned aerial system solution to implement autonomous beyond-visual-range (BVLOS) flights over the city-state’s network of reservoirs. Continuing the collaboration, Skyports, ST Engineering and Sumitomo Corporation formed a consortium in early 2022 to provide drone services for ship-to-shore package delivery in Singapore.
Soo Soon Teong, Vice President and Head of Unmanned Aircraft Systems, ST Engineering, said: “Our investment in Skyports stems from our confidence in the future of advanced air mobility and the expertise Skyports has and will continue to grow in building the future. With the stronger link between ST Engineering and Skyports, we will accelerate our efforts to combine our complementary strengths in advanced air mobility and advance the DroNet solution globally.”
Going forward, Skyports will continue to strengthen global relationships with industry-leading ecosystem partners, public and private sector stakeholders and regulators to develop targeted solutions, while maturing critical AAM infrastructure and drones services to increase mobility, productivity and ensure security across all markets.
Founded in 2018 by Duncan Walker and Simon Morrish, the startup is an urban air mobility infrastructure and drone delivery provider for aviation and end-to-end drone delivery management. The company protects, designs, builds, owns and operates passenger and cargo vertical airports. The company offers drone deliveries through its logistics arm, Delivery by Skyports.
Drone operators are uniquely helping the NHS transport COVID test samples and other medical supplies between medical facilities in Scotland in 2021.
In addition, late last year, Skyports began developing Europe’s first test vertical airport in Paris in time for the launch of commercial Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) services in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Most recently, UK Business Secretary Quasi Kwaten announced a major investment in green aerospace, confirming that solar-powered planes, high-efficiency wings and medical drones are part of the $273 million in technology.
