Electric aircraft company Overair said it's received $145 million that will be used to develop and commercially market a new electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL).
Santa Ana-based Overair said it received the funding from Hanwha Systems and Hanwha Aerospace of South Korea.
With the new funding, Overair said it plans to fly its all-electric experimental Butterfly prototype in the second half of 2023. Butterfly is an all-electric aircraft with six seats designed to take off and land vertically. In addition to the investment, Hanwha will also provide electric motors and battery packs for Overair's prototypes.
"This is a tremendous milestone for our growing team, and we're extremely well positioned to deliver sustainable aerial ridesharing to the world through the development of Butterfly," said Overair co-founder and CEO Ben Tigner in a statement. "We've proven Butterfly's propulsion system, so we'll now begin validating Butterfly's ability to operate safely in real-world weather conditions, carry significant payloads and fly incredibly quietly."
Hanwha owns 30% of Overair and previously invested $25 million in Overair in 2019, according to TechCrunch. With this latest investment, Overair has raised about $170 million.
The Butterfly will have a range of more than 100 miles, has a cruise speed of 200 miles per hour, will have zero emissions and creates less than 40 decibels of sound, per the company'swebsite.
In November, Overair announced expansion of its Santa Ana headquarters, which now incorporate two buildings — one of 94,000 square feet that houses the company’s corporate offices, shop lab, and cleanroom space for aircraft design, development and manufacturing; and another of 109,000 square feet that includes space for aircraft integration and testing facilities.
"The company is looking to bring hundreds and eventually thousands of new technology-focused jobs to Orange County," the company said in a November statement. "Overair plans to hire 1,000 employees over the next three to five years, including aerostructure and propulsion systems engineers looking to create green energy systems."
