ACG Partners with Volocopter to Finance USD 1 Billion fleet

Aviation Capital Group LLC (ACG) has partnered with Volocopter to assist with developing financing solutions that will help sell Volocopter’s electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The deal will cover up to $1 billion in support for all of Volocopter’s eVTOLs. Deliveries will start when the aircraft has been certified for commercial use by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

As a result of this agreement, Volocopter customers now have the option to lease aircraft through financing schemes, which ACG will provide. The agreement will additionally allow Volcopter to scale commercial business after certification.

Volocopter’s eVTOL aircraft includes the VoloCity and VoloConnect for passengers and the VoloDrone for carrying goods. The VoloCity has a maximum payload weight of about 200kg, and a maximum airspeed of approximately 110 km/h.

Tom Baker, CEO, and President of ACG claims that “This transaction highlights ACG’s ongoing commitment to reducing the environmental impact of the aviation industry and to working towards a cleaner and more sustainable future. The transaction builds on the existing partnership between Volocopter and ACG’s parent company, Tokyo Century, an early equity investor in Volocopter.”

Although none of Volcopter’s aircraft have been certificated yet, the company is gearing up to provide air taxi services for the Paris Summer Olympics in 2024.

Florian Reuter, Chief Executive Officer of Volocopter, is optimistic about the partnership. “This agreement will allow our business to hit the ground running after aircraft certification. It signifies ACG’s and our investor Tokyo Century’s trust in Volocopter’s leadership in the UAM market.”

However, even with various testing and proof-of-concept flights, Volocopter canceled its plans to go public via merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Despite this, the company has still seen support from customers in South Korea, Japan, and China.