Bangalore-based Bumble Bee Flights raised $37 million from U.K.-based technology conglomerate SRAM & MRAM Technologies and Resources. Serial entrepreneur Arjun Das founded the company earlier this year. Das previously co-founded video analytics platform Nymo Technologies.
With the new investment, the company aims to set up an assembly plant in the east Indian state of Odisha to manufacture air taxis. These vehicles can be used for human transportation, as also as air ambulances, air taxies and in the logistics and supply chain sectors. The company expects certified models to be available for production by 2024.
The electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft will be launched under the brand “Bee Flights.” They will use replaceable batteries to hover and fly, as well as for taking off and landing vertically. The vehicles are expected to be able to fly for 20 minutes covering a distance of a little over 12 miles.
Das said Bumble Bee Flights will design and manufacture its air taxis by partnering with operators across the globe to service, support and run operations. The first step will be obtaining certification to operate in the U.S., the U.K., the UAE, India and Singapore.
Morgan Stanley predicts that the global urban air mobility market will grow 30% annually between 2021 and 2040, reaching $1.5 trillion by 2040.
