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Lilium GmbH

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Lilium N.V.
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: LILM
IndustryAerospace
Founded2015; 9 years ago (2015)
Founders
  • Sebastian Born
  • Matthias Meiner
  • Patrick Nathen
  • Daniel Wiegand
FateCeased operations
Headquarters
Gauting, Bavaria
,
Germany
Key people
Klaus Roewe (CEO) Giancarlo Moreira (Chair of the Board)[1]
ProductsVTOL aircraft
Number of employees
950 (2024)[2]
Websitelilium.com

Lilium N.V. is a German aerospace company which is the developer of the Lilium Jet, an electrically powered personal air vehicle capable of VTOL flight.

History

[edit]

Lilium GmbH was founded in 2015 by four engineers and PhD students at the Technical University of Munich, Daniel Wiegand, Sebastian Born, Matthias Meiner and Patrick Nathen, and named after the aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal.[3][4]

The Lilium Eagle, an unmanned two-seat proof of concept model, performed its maiden flight at the airfield Mindelheim-Mattsies near Munich in Germany on 20 April 2017.[5] The Lilium Jet five-seater prototype Phoenix first flew in May 2019.[6][7] The prototype was powered by 36 electrically powered jacketed-propellers mounted in movable flaps that can point down for vertical takeoff and gradually moved to a horizontal position to provide forward thrust.[8] The five-seat Lilium Jet is capable of achieving a top speed of 300 km/h and targets a range of 300 km.[9] In 2017, Lilium announced plans to launch a 5-seat Lilium Jet by 2025, aimed for the air taxi service market.[10] At the beginning of 2019, Lilium held discussions with Switzerland's national rail company SBB on the use of the air taxi as a means of transport between the station and the home and a letter of intent was signed.[11] In October 2019, Lilium released footage showing the Jet in full flight, taking off vertically and transitioning to horizontal flight.[12] Lilium also announced the completion of its first manufacturing facility in October 2019.[13] In November 2020, Lilium announced a partnership with the developer Tavistock Development Company to build a $25 million vertiport in Lake Nona, Orlando, Florida.[14]

As of 2018, the registered office of Lilium GmbH was in Weßling (Wessling) near Gilching[15] in Bavaria, Germany. Lilium completed a new financing round of $90 million in September 2017.[16] From May 2018 to November 2019, the car designer Frank Stephenson was chief designer for Lilium.[17] He previously worked for BMW and designed various sports car brands. Also in 2018, Arnd Mueller,[18] previously Chief Brand Marketing Officer & GM Esprit Image GmbH-Member of the Executive Management Team, became VP Marketing of Lilium. He is to build the air taxi development company and its product into an international brand. In September 2018, Yann de Vries, formerly partner at Atomico, became the new VP of corporate development Lilium.[19]

In July 2019, Lilium announced London, UK as its base to develop its software engineering team.[20] The engineering team is led by Carlos Morgado, former chief technology officer of Just Eat.[21] Luca Benassi, a former Airbus executive with experience at Boeing and NASA, has been named Lilium's chief development engineer.[22] Yves Yemsi who worked as head of program quality for Airbus A350 aircraft has been hired as chief program officer.[23] Dirk Gebser has joined as vice president of production.[24]

In March 2020, Lilium raised $240 million in funding led by Tencent, with participation of previous backers such as Atomico, Freigeist and LGT.[25] In January 2021 it was reported that Lilium was seeking to become a listed company via a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC, also called a "blank check" company);[26] the company completed a SPAC merger in September 2021.[27] The company also confirmed it was redesigning its aircraft.[28] Former Airbus CEO, Tom Enders, joined Lilium's board of directors in January 2021.[29] In early June 2022 it was announced that Klaus Roewe would become CEO of Lilium on August 1, replacing Daniel Wiegand.[30]

In late March 2021, Lilium announced a partnership with American aerospace supplier Honeywell during the SPAC IPO process. Honeywell is set to supply avionics components and also subscribe to shares in Lilium.[31]

In July 2021, according to research by Welt am Sonntag, it became known that the company had to correct its balance sheet.[32] After the recalculation, the startup loss for 2019 was no longer 42.8 million euros, but 75.4 million euros. A risk notice about the company's continuation was communicated. The merger with SPAC Qell took place in September 2021, and on September 15, Lilium N.V. was listed on NASDAQ for the first time.[33]

In August 2021 the Brazilian airline Azul signed a letter of intent for 220 Lilium Jet seven-seaters.[34]

At the time of the IPO, the company had significant losses and no significant revenue; the loss for the fiscal year 2020 totaled 188 million euros. Nevertheless, the company was valued at $2.4 billion (after the addition of approximately 430 million euros in liquidity). For the year 2021, a cash outflow of 217 million euros and remaining liquidity of 400 million euros were reported.[35]

In October 2022, the company reported a loss of 123.7 million euros for the first half of 2022. The total loss since the company's inception was estimated at 841 million euros. As of July 1, 2022, there was liquidity of approximately 230 million euros.[36] In November 2022, the company secured an additional $119 million in financing through a capital increase and simultaneously forecasted a further uncovered capital requirement of $540 million until the planned market entry in 2025.[37]

At the end of March 2023, the company reported a loss of 253 million euros for the fiscal year 2022.[38] In April 2023, the company informed Handelsblatt that there was a funding gap of 300 million euros until the first flight in the second half of 2024, and that the subsequent test phase for certification would last until 2026.[39] In May 2023, Lilium announced a capital increase of 227 million euros, with around $100 million reportedly coming from the Chinese internet giant Tencent. The company also stated that this sum would cover most of the costs until the first manned test flights. In July 2023, there was another capital increase of $192 million (approximately 171 million euros).[40]

At the end of February 2024, the company reported a loss of 263 million euros for the fiscal year 2023.[41] In March 2024, Wirtschaftswoche reported that losses had accumulated to 1.359 billion euros.[42]

On 18 July 2024 Saudia Group and Lilium N.V. signed a binding sales agreement for 50 Lilium Jets, with options for the purchase of 50 more.[43]

On 24 October 2024, after failing to settle an agreement with the Bavarian Government to secure a €50 million loan, the Lilium Board of Directors approved application for self-administration of its German subsidaries.[44]

On 20 December 2024 Lilium ceased operations and layed off about 1000 workers.[45]

On 24 December 2024 it was announced that a consortium of investors, Mobile Uplift Corporation GmbH, would buy parts of the insolvent company.[46] Managing Director since 4 December 2024 of Mobile Uplift Corporation GmbH is Philipp Alexander Rudolf Maria Schöller[47]

Controversy

[edit]

In January 2020 Aerokurier published a report which stated that Lilium might not achieve its aircraft performance goals, later backed up by four German aerospace academics who wrote that Lilium created clever PR tactics to attract investors.[48] Lilium countered the Aerokurier article by claiming that the experts underestimated their hover drive efficiency at 20 percent, while asserting that industry norms for turbofan levels typically fall between 85 and 95 percent efficiency.[48][49]

In February 2021, Forbes published an article citing several former employees who claimed that Lilium's aircraft development faced challenges  during the flight test."[50]

Awards and recognition

[edit]

In 2018, Lilium was named as the management team of the year – industrial goods as the silver Stevie winner of the Stevie Awards.[51]

In July 2019, the Lilium five-seater Jet received a Red Dot Award: Design Concept for "Best of the Best".[52]

In 2019, Lilium was named second in LinkedIn Germany's 'Top Startups' list.[53]

In 2021 the Lilium Jet won the IF Gold Award in the discipline of Professional Concept.[54]

In 2024 Lilium design team received an award at the eVTOL Insights’ Global Advanced Air Mobility Awards: "Design Team of the Year" [55]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Gapper, John (12 January 2023). "Flying car, anyone?". FT Magazine.
  2. ^ "Lilium Company - Lilium". lilium.com. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  3. ^ Palmer, Maija (14 March 2019). "Lilium hopes to soar with launch of electric air taxis". Financial Times. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  4. ^ Balzter, Sebastian (15 September 2024). "Lilium und das liebe Geld" [Lilium and the dear money]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Lilium Jet "Eagle" Prototype (Defunct)". Electric VTOL News™. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Lilium unveils five-seater air taxi prototype after a successful maiden flight for its latest jet". TechCrunch. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  7. ^ "Five seater self-flying air taxi unveiled". 16 May 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  8. ^ Ulrike Ebner (21 April 2017). "Lilium Jet absolviert unbemannten Erstflug (Lilium Jet completes unmanned first flight)". flugrevue. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  9. ^ "The Week In Technology, Oct. 28-Nov. 1, 2019 | Aviation Week Network". aviationweek.com. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  10. ^ BBC (20 April 2017). "Jet-propelled sky taxi tested in Germany". BBC. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  11. ^ Andy Hoffman (13 January 2019). "Swiss Rail Service Planning Electric Flying Taxis: Report". Bloomberg. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  12. ^ "Lilium releases new flight footage and details factory plans for 2025 launch". TechCrunch. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  13. ^ Rudgard, Olivia (22 October 2019). "The electric air taxi that could take you from London to Manchester in an hour starting in 2025". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  14. ^ Hawkins, Andrew J. (11 November 2020). "Flying taxi startup Lilium will build a hub for its electric aircraft in Florida". The Verge. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  15. ^ Lilium (6 August 2018). "Imprint". lilium. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  16. ^ Jonas Jansen (5 September 2017). "Für ihr Flugauto bekommen diese deutschen Erfinder 90 Millionen Dollar (For their flight car these German inventors get 90 million dollars)". FAZ. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  17. ^ "Lilium". frankstephenson.com. 3 August 2021.
  18. ^ Giuseppe Rondinella (12 June 2018). "Münchner Lufftaxi-Start-up holt ersten Marketingchef an Bord". horizont.net. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  19. ^ Steve O'Hear (18 September 2018). "Atomico's Yann de Vries joins flying taxi company Lilium as VP Corporate Development". TechCrunch. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  20. ^ Field, Matthew (11 June 2019). "Boost for UK tech as German flying taxi startup creates 'hundreds' of new London software jobs". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  21. ^ O'Hear, Steve (10 June 2019). "Lilium, the ambitious German air taxi company, picks London for its new software engineering base". TechCrunch. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  22. ^ "Lilium, the ambitious German air taxi company, picks London for its new software engineering base". TechCrunch. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  23. ^ Hawkins, Andrew J. (22 October 2019). "Lilium's electric air taxi is finally actually flying in new video". The Verge. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  24. ^ Bhuiyan, Johana (21 August 2017). "Flying-car company Lilium has hired ex-Gett and Airbus execs to help make its on-demand air taxis a reality by 2025". Vox. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  25. ^ "Lilium raises another $240M to design, test and run an electric aircraft taxi service". TechCrunch. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  26. ^ "Lilium reportedly seeking public investment via SPAC in high-stakes test for electric air taxi-makers". evtol.com. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  27. ^ "Lilium closes business combination with Qell Acquisition Corp., will begin trading on Nasdaq under the symbol "LILM" on September 15". Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  28. ^ Köhn, Rüdiger; München. "E-Flugzeuge: Der ICE der Lüfte". FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  29. ^ "Tom Enders, former Airbus CEO joins Lilium board - Lilium". lilium.com. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  30. ^ "Klaus Roewe, industry veteran and former leader of one of the most profitable commercial aircraft programs, to join Lilium as CEO".
  31. ^ Jörn Brien (10 June 2021). "Lilium: Münchener Flugtaxi-Pionier holt US-Luft- und Raumfahrtkonzern Honeywell an Bord". t3n.de. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  32. ^ Der Lufttaxi-Hoffnung Lilium geht das Geld aus Businessinsider, die Welt zitierend, 21 July 2021.
  33. ^ "Thelen zu Lilium: "bin mehr denn je von Management und Technologie überzeugt"" (in German). 22 September 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  34. ^ Sam Shead (3 August 2021). "An electric jet start-up just signed a $1 billion deal with a commercial airliner". CNBC.
  35. ^ Lilium will seinen Senkrechtstarter deutlich vereinfachen Handelsblatt, 1 March 2022, retrieved 8 March 2022.
  36. ^ Finanzen nicht unter Kontrolle? Münchener Flugtaxi-Startup Lilium gesteht Schwachstellen ein, in Business insider 4 October 2022, retrieved 19 November 2022.
  37. ^ Aktiencrash und riesige Kapitallücke – Lilium droht den Wettlauf zu verlieren, in Welt 24 November 2022, retrieved 25 November 2022.
  38. ^ 0 Euro Umsatz, 253 Millionen Verlust und ein Starttermin im Irgendwann, Die Welt, 31 March 2023, retrieved 1 April 2023.
  39. ^ Flugtaxi-Unternehmen Lilium droht Rauswurf aus der Nasdaq, Handelsblatt, 13 April 2023, retrieved 14 April 2023.
  40. ^ beschafft sich mehr Geld, Süddeutsche Zeitung 19 July 2023, retrieved 20 July 2023.
  41. ^ Financial Results, Shareholder Letter FY 2023, retrieved 28 February 2024.
  42. ^ Senkrechter Blindflug, Wirtschaftswoche, 21 March 2024.
  43. ^ "Saudia Group Signs Industry-Leading Sales Agreement With Lilium to Acquire Up to 100 eVTOL Jets". Media Release. Munich: Lilium GmbH. 18 July 2024. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  44. ^ "Lilium Board approves application for self-administration of German subsidiaries - Lilium". lilium.com. 24 October 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  45. ^ Korosec, Kirsten (23 December 2024). "Electric aircraft startup Lilium ceases operations, 1,000 workers laid off". TechCrunch. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  46. ^ Stephan Lina (24 December 2024). "Investorenkonsortium kauft insolventen E-Flugzeugbauer Lilium". BR24 Redaktion. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  47. ^ https://www.northdata.com/MUC%20Mobile%20Uplift%20Corporation%20GmbH,%20M%C3%BCnchen/HRB%20297317. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  48. ^ a b Reinhold, Lars (23 January 2020). "Lilium: Weitere Experten unterstützen Kritik". www.aerokurier.de (in German). Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  49. ^ "Lilium reportedly seeking public investment via SPAC in high-stakes test for electric air taxi-makers". evtol.com. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  50. ^ Bogaisky, Jeremy. "Lilium's New Course: On Verge Of Going Public, It's Working On A Bigger Air Taxi. Can It Deliver?". Forbes. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  51. ^ "Gewinner der German Stevie® Awards 2018 | Stevie Awards". stevieawards.com (in German). Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  52. ^ "Lilium jet awarded prestigious 'Best of the Best' Red Dot design award". Robotics & Automation News. 30 July 2019. Archived from the original on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  53. ^ "Lilium comes second in 'LinkedIn Top Startups of 2019' - Lilium". lilium.com. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  54. ^ "Lilium / Aircraft". ifworlddesignguide.com. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  55. ^ Pritchard, Jason (8 May 2024). "First winners of eVTOL Insights' Global Advanced Air Mobility Awards revealed at Montreal conference - eVTOL Insights". evtolinsights.com. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
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