The ePlane Company raises $5M in Pre-Series A | Aims to build a flying taxi

Chennai based The ePlane Company, started at IIT Madras in April 2017 by Professor Satya Chakravarthy and Pranjal Mehta announced their Pre-Series A fundraise of $5M to build the most compact flying taxi in the world. The round was led by Speciale Invest, an early stage Venture Capital focused on Tech-driven and clean mobility fund Micelio Mobility. The funding will primarily be used to power the first flight of the prototypes, accelerate product development and increase engineering bandwidth. The start-up had also raised a seed round of USD 1 Million in Dec 2020.

The startup is excited to welcome new partners on board – UTEC – The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners, 3one4 Capital, InfoEdge-backed-Redstart Labs, Prashant Pitti, Anicut Capital LLP and Thought Ventures. Their existing partners include Java Capital and First Cheque.

The ePlane Company is building a flying taxi for faster commute in cities. The fully electric taxi will have a capacity of 200kg payload to accommodate two passengers. It will have a vertical takeoff and landing and will be human piloted. The taxi will fly at a speed of 200km per hour and will have a 4*4 m footprint.

Tha target market for the company is Urban Mobility. The possible use cases are-

• Urban commute to beat road traffic
• Reaching remote areas quickly cargo logistics
• Peacetime logistics for defence

Interview | Prof. Satya Chakravarthy – co-founder at The ePlane Co