Electric aviation start-up Vaeridion has raised a further €30 million ($33.7 million) through a Series A2 funding round that closed on Thursday. The German company said the extra capital will support manufacturing of the first conforming prototype of its nine-passenger Microliner aircraft in early 2027 to start flight testing under its plan to complete EASA type certification in 2030.
Vaeridion, which says it has now raised a total of €124 million, is currently applying for an EASA design organization approval, having established the certification basis for the Microliner with the European regulator. Additionally, the European Commission is providing €94.5 million in support through its Carolus innovation fund and this will be used to develop the Microliner’s final assembly line at the company’s Oberpfaffenhofen headquarters near Munich.
According to Vaeridion, it holds provisional sales agreements with several operators for 130 Microliners, with Belgium-based private aviation group named as the launch customer. The company said the prospective orders have a combined value of €730 million, which implies a unit price of €5.6 million for an aircraft it expects to have a range of 400 kilometers (216 nm).
Fuel Price Spikes
Announcing the new funding, the company said that intense cost pressure on airlines caused by spikes in fuel prices due to the Iran war have increased interest in electric aircraft. It said the interest is especially strong for regional air services in Europe, which imports around 57% of its energy.
In addition to supporting passenger to flights to smaller communities, the Microliner is also being touted for cargo, logistics and medical support applications. Its cabin will have a freight capacity of 10 cubic meters (353 cubic feet).
Program partners include GKN Aerospace, electric propulsion specialist Evolito, battery manufacturer Molicel, MT-Propeller and Drive System Design. The Series A2 equity funding round was backed by venture capital groups Shift Invest and Invest-NL, with further contributions from Vaeridion’s existing backer World Fund, Project A,, Vsquared Ventures and Alexander Rittweger.
“Over the past year, we have turned the Microliner from a validated design design into hardware, with exceptional capital efficiency,” Vaeridion CEO and founder Ivor van Dartel commented. “Our propulsion and battery technology is now being tested at our own facility in Oberpfaffenhofen. This equity round enables us to build our first conforming aircraft.”
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