India: ePlane Aims to Raise USD20 Million Via Series‑A Round
IIT Madras-based eVTOL startup company, ePlane (TEC), is looking to raise USD20 million in an up-and-coming Series‑A investment round, reports thehindubusinessline.com. It requires this additional money for the ongoing prototype development, expansion, infrastructure and “talent acquisition”, of its e200 flying taxi, where the company hopes to launch its prototype at the end of this year.
The proposed investment follows a previous USD5 million gained from a pre-series A round in January 2022 and USD1 million from a seed round in March 2021.
Launched in April 2016, TEC recently did the first flight test of its e50, presently one of India’s largest eVTOL drones. Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy, a Professor at IIT-Madras and ePlane’s co-Founder and technical lead, commented, “The company will continue to rigorously test the present e50 version, while progressing with the e200 development.”
Professor Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy
He continued “The e50 is capable of transporting up to 50 kg payload per trip and can potentially bridge the mid-mile market gap in the logistics, healthcare, and eCommerce sectors by transporting small to mid-sized packages between warehouses, and move small machines or tools between work sites.”
Chakravarthy pointed out that traffic jams cost USD22 billion yearly in major metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata. TEC says it is building electric planes for 10x faster commute within cities that is priced similar to a road taxi, besides moving cargo in remote and rural areas.
The company has designed three unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) models: Ek Hanz, Scout and Vayu. The all-electric Ek Hanz has been designed to deliver payloads up to 6 kg, and fly continuously for 100 km at a cruise speed of 50 kmph.
Watch Video of e50
The vehicle takes off and lands vertically like a drone with a one-push button. However, it moves forward like a plane and automatically detects obstacles such as trees or power poles to ensure a safe flight. While, Scout is a drone designed for mobile surveillance and security and has a powerful onboard processor and a long-lasting battery.
The hybrid auto-pilot ePlane, Vayu, is being developed to carry out surveillance over large areas. While it is smaller than Ek Hanz, Vayu can fly for more than two hours continuously on a single charge.
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