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Swedish hybrid-electric plane maker Heart Aerospace has announced it has raised $107m in funding to develop hybrid electric planes that could decarbonise regional air travel in Europe.
Among the investors to participate in the Series B funding round are Bill Gates’ venture capital fund Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the European Innovation Council, and aviation giants United Airlines and Air Canada.
Heart Aerospace said it would use the latest funds to make progress toward type certification for its first hybrid-electric airplane, the ES-SO, a regional aircraft with seating capacity for 30 passengers.
The company claims the ES-SO is the only “clean sheet” hybrid-electric airplane of its size with an active type of certification application with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
Anders Forslund, co-founder and CEO of Heart Aerospace, said the ES-SO could be “the first stepping stone” to decoupling the “tremendous growth in aviation from its emissions”.
“Moreover, because of the superior economics of electric aircraft over their fossil-fuel counterparts, the ES-30 will bring back service to communities that have lost connectivity and open many new markets,” he said. “This upcoming year is an exciting one for Heart Aerospace as we prepare to unveil our full-scale aircraft demonstrator.”
Heart Aerospace said it had 250 orders for the ES-30, with options and purchase rights for an additional 120 planes, and letters of intent signed for a further 191 aircraft.
Danish investor Sagitta Ventures, Air Canada, EQT Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Norrsken VC, and Y Combinator also participated in the funding round.
Heart Aerospace said the new round brings the total financing raised by the company to $145m.
Michael Rousseau, president and chief executive officer at Air Canada, said its investment in Heart Aerospace was part of its “multi-pronged approach” to achieving the firm’s climate goals, which also included advocating for the commercial scaling up of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production.
“Further to our initial equity position in Heart Aerospace to support the development of the ES-30 hybrid-electric regional aircraft which could be deployed in Air Canada’s regional markets, we recently strengthened our financial investment in Heart Aerospace with an additional $5m to advance the ES-30 aircraft towards type certification,” he added.
In addition to the funding announcement, EQT Ventures partner Ted Persson has joined the Heart Aerospace’s board of directors.
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