AAM startup Ascendance gets $22.6 million for its ATEA VTOL

French advanced air mobility (AAM) startup Ascendance Flight Technology says it is revving up its push to finalize the prototype of its ATEA hybrid vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) plane, thanks to  new investment of €21 million ($22.6 million). 

Toulouse-based Ascendance said it had raised the new financing from existing backers and several new investors including Bpifrance, a public-private fund that supports France’s most promising tech startups. Ascendance said the infusion will be used to finish the full-scale prototype of its ATEA VTOL, and begin test flights to prepare for certification and eventual large-scale production of the AAM plane.

The company says it has already signed 245 memos of understanding with customers keen on buying the aircraft. 

Last October, Ascendance signed an agreement with Air France-KLM maintenance, repair, and operations unit AFI KLM E&M, making the Franco-Dutch airline group not only a potential buyer of ATEA VTOLs, but also a major industrial partner in servicing AAM craft.

Read more: AAM startup Ascendance links with Air France-KLM’s MRO unit

ATEA is designed to fly a maximum of 400 kilometers at 200 km/h, and boasts a quick 10-minute turnaround time. It is expected to take its first test flights this later year, before being featured in AAM demonstrations during the Paris Summer Olympics in 2024.

Unlike most AAM craft developers, Ascendance has conceived the five-seat ATEA VTOL to operate using a hybrid propulsion system. That Sterna solution uses distributed electric motorization compatible with both tradition or sustainable fuels, including hydrogen cells. 

The concept was created by Ascendance founders, who are veterans of Airbus’s E-Fan program that continues development of the aviation giant’s all-electric passenger plane. Aware of the limited capacities of current battery technologies, however, they devised Sterna to use combustible materials or hydrogen cells to drive generators that create electric power the craft relies on.

Read: HevenDrones unveils its first of three hydrogen-powered drones planned for 2023

The new $22.6 million in funding to get an ATEA prototype aloft to enable testing and certification work follows an $11.7 million infusion Ascendance received in September of 2021. 

Ascendance cofounder and CEO Jean-Christophe Lambert predicts the financing will prove essential to the company’s push to take its ATEA VTOL to market faster, and in so doing give France a prominent spot in the emerging AAM sector.

“This fundraising round is critical for sustainable aviation in France,” says Lambert. “It is a logical step forward in our roadmap for the industry’s energy transition. It will accelerate the technical and commercial development of our products while also contributing to our central aim: to build a sustainable model for cleaner air mobility.”