German all-electric aircraft manufacturer VÆRIDION has raised €30 million in a Series A2 funding round. The company will use the investment to build the first prototype of its nine-passenger Microliner aircraft.
The funding round was led by SHIFT Invest and Invest-NL, with participation from existing investors World Fund, Project A and Vsquared Ventures. PAYBACK founder and deep-tech investor Alexander Rittweger also joined the round, along with other investors. Including this investment and previous public funding, VÆRIDION has raised around €60 million to date.
Separately, the European Commission has selected VÆRIDION’s CAROLUS project for a €94.5 million Innovation Fund grant. The funding will support the development and expansion of a final assembly facility at Oberpfaffenhofen Airport in Germany. These investments will help the company build its first conforming aircraft and prepare for large-scale production of the Microliner.
Ivor van Dartel, Founder and CEO of VÆRIDION, said: “Over the past year, we have turned the Microliner from a validated design into hardware, with exceptional capital efficiency. 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. The Commission’s selection of CAROLUS supports the next step: establishing the industrial capability for Microliner production. Building out of Europe, our mission is to make regional flying commercially viable and accessible again, in Europe and for operators worldwide.”
Thijs Gitmans, General Partner at SHIFT Invest, said: “Regional aviation is one of the clearest cases where electrification makes both environmental and commercial sense. VÆRIDION has chosen a certification pathway regulators already understand and has delivered real hardware on a disciplined budget. We are proud to lead this round and to back a European champion in electric flight with European funding.”
Daria Saharova, Managing Partner at World Fund, said: “For the past half century, Airbus has shown that Europe can build aircraft the world buys. VÆRIDION is writing the next chapter with a fully electric aircraft, built in Bavaria, with a clear path to certification. Investing in the future of aviation is Europe’s power play, and I am proud to back Ivor and the team.”
VÆRIDION aims to make regional air travel more sustainable with its Microliner, a fully electric aircraft designed to make air transport cleaner and more affordable. The aircraft can be used to carry both passengers and cargo. It is designed for regular flights, charter services and flexible flight operations.
Headquartered in Munich, Germany, VÆRIDION also has offices in Delft and Brussels. Its Microliner can carry up to nine passengers or 10 cubic metres of cargo and has a range of 400 kilometres under instrument flight rules (IFR).
The aircraft features specially designed wings with built-in modular batteries and a multi-engine propulsion system connected to a single propeller. This design aims to reduce energy consumption and make the Microliner one of the most energy-efficient aircraft in its category.
