The funding round was led by Endiya Partners and Ideaspring Capital, with participation from Rainmatter Foundation, as per a statement by the company.
The capital — the company’s first equity funding — will help the Hyderabad-based startup to accelerate the development of its first commercial product — a fully autonomous cargo e-VTOL aircraft, with a payload of over 100 kg, and long-range capability. It will also help the company hire more employees, build its facilities, and establish the testing infrastructure required to move towards certification.
BluJ Aero was founded in May 2022 by chief executive officer Maruthi Amardeep Sri Vatsavaya, who previously served as engineering director at Skyroot Aerospace, and chief technology officer Utham Kumar Dharmapuri, who was an engineering lead at Boeing. BluJ Aero’s team of nine includes members who have previously worked for Boeing, GE, ISRO, Siemens, and Collins Aerospace, the statement added. It plans to have 20 members on board by the end of 2023.
The founders told ET that the company is close to completing the design of the first prototype, and has also started manufacturing some components of the aircraft. A demonstration flight, powered by a lithium-ion battery, is slated for November 2023, and the manufacture of the hydrogen-fuelled version is targeted for next year.
“Freight transport by road is a significant contributor to carbon emissions. BluJ has taken an interesting route to solving the problem, by working on hydrogen-powered electric aircraft. Given the enormity of the challenge, we are excited to join them in this journey’’, Dinesh Pai, part of the investments team at Nithin Kamath-founded Rainmatter Foundation, said.
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Prior to this fundraise, BluJ has received several grants, its founders told ET. In terms of regulation and adoption of VTOLs, Vatsavaya said, “VTOL aircrafts have carried passengers safely globally. Some of the manufacturers are doing extensive testing. Any certification programme is a long process. The year 2025 is when major manufacturers are aiming to start commercial operations.”Besides defence applications, BluJ’s use-cases include deploying it in the north east, or on offshore oil rigs that currently use helicopters to carry goods, since these are difficult to access by land.
Another company in this space is ePlane, which has raised $6.47 million from investors such as Speciale Invest, Micelio, and 3one4 Capital.
