SkyDrive has completed another additional Series C funding round, secured through a third-party allocation of new shares to Inventum Ventures; Osaka Metro; Energy & Environment Investment; and Mizuho Bank. With this latest investment, the company has raised a total of eight billion yen (around $55m) across three additional Series C funding rounds.

SkyDrive was established in July 2018 to create a future where everyone uses eVTOLs as their daily transportation in Japan and across the world.

The Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) accepted an application for type certification of SkyDrive's SD-05 eVTOL in 2021, and in 2022 JCAB and SkyDrive agreed on the certification basis. SkyDrive is currently in the process of certification activities in parallel with development with the aim of agreeing on the certification plan, after which ground tests and flight tests will be conducted to verify they meet the required standards and performance criteria.

With this investment, SkyDrive plans to upgrade both facilities and organisation for ground and flight testing to accelerate its development and certification activities. Additionally, the company will expand and strengthen its quality assurance and other key departments to support the transition to mass production, ensuring that its aircraft meet the standards of quality and reliability.

SkyDrive has received a total of 263 pre-orders for its eVTOL from Japan, the US, South Korea and Vietnam. SkyDrive will also develop a digital platform that will enable it to consistently manage aircraft data throughout the entire lifecycle, from design and manufacturing to post-delivery. This platform will allow the company to monitor the condition of the aircraft even after the aircraft has been delivered to the customer.

CEO Tomohiro Fukuzawa comments: “Since the Series C funding in September 2022, we have been able to make great progress in the development of our eVTOL aircraft with many top-class engineers from around the world joining our team. With the cooperation of Suzuki Motor Corporation, a shareholder and strong production partner, we announced the start of production of SkyDrive at Suzuki Group's manufacturing plant in March 2024. In terms of business development, we are also working with Suzuki to develop the market in India and have concluded a strategic partnership with the government of Gujarat. In September 2023 in the United States we established SkyDrive America, and are currently developing practical use cases originating from regional airports in South Carolina, Georgia and other states. We are grateful to our investors and business partners for their positive evaluation of our progress and their strong support. We will keep doing our best to advance our eVTOL and business development to meet everyone's expectations.”