Hydrogen-electric aircraft developer ZeroAvia has secured $21.4 million of backing from a raft of major investors, including Amazon and Shell, as the company completed its first fundraising round in support of plans to run its first commercial zero emission planes from 2023.
Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Ecosystem Integrity Fund led the investment round, with follow-on investment from the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, Horizons Ventures, Shell Ventures and Summa Equity, the start-up announced.
The news follows the announcement Saturday of a newpartnership between ZeroAvia and British Airwaysto explore the development of zero emission aircraft for use in the airline's fleet, as well as the approval of $16.3 million of U.K. government funding via the Aerospace Technology Institute (ARI).
今天的最新announcement therefore brings total new funding in ZeroAvia to $37.7 million, and overall funding since the firm's inception to almost $50 million.
"Both aviation and the financial markets are waking up to the idea that hydrogen is the only meaningful path towards large-scale, zero-emission commercial flight," said Val Miftakhov, founder and CEO of ZeroAvia. "Powering a 100-seat plane on hydrogen is not out of the question. We feel deeply grateful to our top-tier investors for joining us in the next phase of our exciting journey; to bring in a new golden age of aviation."
By 2027, the company also plans to have hydrogen technologies in service capable of powering commercial aircraft carrying up to 100 people.
In September ZeroAvia completed the "world's first" hydrogen fuel cell power flight of a commercial-grade aircraft in the skies over Bedfordshire, England, and is aiming to carry out further tests next year with a target of running commercial hydrogen-electric, 20-seater flights with a range of up to 500 miles from as early as 2023.
By 2027, the company also plans to have hydrogen technologies in service capable of powering commercial aircraft carrying up to 100 people, ramping up to journeys of over 1,000 miles by 2030.
Kara Hurst, vice president for worldwide sustainability at Amazon, said the funding awarded via the firm's Climate Pledge Fund was aimed at supporting the development of technologies and services that would help companies deliver net zero emissions by 2040.
In September ZeroAvia completed the 'world's first' hydrogen fuel cell power flight of a commercial-grade aircraft.
"ZeroAvia's zero-emission aviation powertrain has real potential to help decarbonize the aviation sector, and we hope this investment will further accelerate the pace of innovation to enable zero-emission air transport at scale," she said.
Elisabeth Brinton, executive vice president for new energies at oil and gas giant Shell, described ZeroAvia's mission to develop hydrogen-electric flight as "innovation at its finest."
“在各自的旅程中对零零排放的旅程，每个行业都面临着自己的独特挑战，”她说。“埃·埃瓦维亚在氢气中的作品推动了想象力的极限 - 并带来航空行业更接近净零排放航班的可能性。”
