Electric aircraft startup Lilium has run out of money

Electric aircraft startup Lilium is shutting down after failing to raise emergency money from the German government, according to a regulatory filing.

The filing comes after a series of setbacks from the German company that was once a darling in the nascent industry of electric aircraft. Lilium, which was developing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft with speeds of up to 100 km/h, had raised more than $1 billion from investors before going public in 2021 on the Nasdaq Exchange via a reverse merger with a blank-check company, SPAC Qell.

Lilium had success landing a number of high-profile investors like Tencent and locking in customers, including an order for 100 electric jets from Saudi Arabia. And more recently it had powered up its first full-scale prototype. But the company was still years away from delivering its product. In the meantime, it burned through cash and grappled with other challenges. In 2020, one of Lilium’s two prototypes burst into flames while maintenance was being carried out. While the model was close to being retired, Lilium paused testing on its the second, newer model until could determine the cause of the accident with the first aircraft.

Lilium was trying to raise additional cash, including 50 million euros ($54 million) of loans from the German government, but lawmakers denied the request last week. Lilium said it had “received indication that the budget committee of the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany will not approve a €50 million guarantee of a contemplated €100 million convertible loan.”

The company said it has not been able to raise sufficient additional funds to continue the operations of its subsidiaries.

Lilium said it will fill for insolvency in the next few days under German law. This means Lilium will lose control of its subsidiaries, which includes Lilium eAircraft.