San Francisco Frontiers - Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup

Lilium had already filed for bankruptcy in October, and was expected to fold entirely this week unless it could secure new sources of funding.

But the startup, which has been developing small electric-powered jets that can take off and land vertically, announced a "major breakthrough".

Mobile Uplift Corporation, a company set up by a consortium of European and North American investors, had signed a deal to buy the assets of the crisis-hit German company, Lilium said.

Lilium, which is based in the southern state of Bavaria, did not disclose the price of the deal.

The agreement is expected to be finalised at the start of January, which will "allow us to restart our business", Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe said.

Lilium had attracted substantial interest, with Saudi Arabia's flag carrier Saudia earlier this year signing a deal to buy 50 of the firm's jets with options to purchase 50 more.

But it has yet to conduct a manned test flight, with the first such trial not expected until next year, and burnt through huge sums in development costs.

It was forced to turn to the state for emergency funding but the German parliament's budget committee refused in October to approve a loan guarantee to the tune of 50 million euros ($52 million).

Lilium was founded in 2015 and employed more than 1,000 people, although most were made redundant ahead of this week's deadline to get new investors on board.

The company is facing tough competition, including from aviation giants Airbus and Boeing, to develop flying taxi technology.

N.Wilson--SFF