Weixin Aerospace completed an angel+ round of financing worth tens of millions of yuan. Its 7-seater, 3-ton eVTOL will conduct its first flight test in July | Exclusive from 36Kr

Text | Azhi

36Kr learned that Weixin Aerospace, a developer of low-altitude air mobility products, has completed a Pre-Series A round of financing worth tens of millions of RMB. This round was led by Ceyuan Capital, with Jinduo Investment participating. The funds will mainly be used to accelerate the R & D iteration, first flight test, and airworthiness certification process of the company's first main model, Vector 5.

Founded in 2023, Weixin Aerospace is an enterprise that 36Kr has been following for a long time. It focuses on the R & D and manufacturing of eVTOL/eCTOL products with large passenger capacity and payload. Combined with the seed round and angel round completed six months ago, Weixin Aerospace has now completed three rounds of financing, with a total cumulative capital delivery exceeding 100 million RMB.

At present, the main model, Vector 5, is a 7-seater, 3-ton pure-electric compound-wing eVTOL. This model focuses on scenarios with urgent civilian needs such as emergency rescue and medical first aid. It has a maximum take-off weight of 3,180 kg, a maximum payload of 680 kg, a maximum range of 300 km, and a maximum cruising speed of 250 km/h. The full-scale prototype was officially rolled off the production line in June last year.

Full-scale prototype of Vector 5

According to He Wei, the founder and CEO of Weixin Aerospace, in late March this year, Weixin Aerospace completed the first flight of the full-scale frame aircraft of Vector 5.

The so - called frame aircraft refers to integrating all the necessary equipment such as motors, electronic controls, batteries, and flight controls on a 1:1 full - scale aircraft skeleton for joint debugging and testing. This avoids the cumbersome steps of repeated disassembly and assembly of access panels, improves testing efficiency, and reduces structural wear.

It is reported that Weixin Aerospace has completed dozens of test flights and joint debugging of the frame aircraft in the first half of this year to prepare for the first flight of the full - scale prototype of Vector 5 in July.

In terms of airworthiness certification, on December 8 last year, the Northwest Regional Administration of the Civil Aviation Administration of China officially accepted the application for the Type Certificate (TC) of Vector 5, and the whole aircraft and its core subsystems have entered the airworthiness certification process simultaneously. According to the company's development plan, its first cargo - version Vector 5 is expected to complete the certification by the end of 2027, which means that Weixin Aerospace has entered a critical window period for airworthiness certification.

In addition to concentrating resources to promote the improvement of the technical maturity of Vector 5 and the airworthiness process, He Wei also pointed out that the R & D of the company's second - generation model, the 11 - seater, 3 - ton fixed - wing eCTOL - Vector 11, is also in progress. The full - scale prototype of this model is expected to be officially rolled off the production line by the end of this year, which will further improve Weixin Aerospace's product portfolio from 3 - ton to larger - capacity levels.

It is reported that Weixin Aerospace will focus on investing in three core scientific research directions: flight control technology, fast - charging supporting technology, and low - altitude communication technology. It aims to achieve continuous breakthroughs in key aviation technologies, ensure self - control, and cooperate with the further improvement of the external supply chain system to promote the products to steadily move from the engineering prototype stage to commercial delivery.

"The core competitiveness of an aircraft manufacturer lies in its system definition and integration capabilities," He Wei emphasized. "The aviation industry has more detailed professional divisions and higher requirements for airworthiness. We focus on structure definition and system integration. The core algorithms, control, and overall structure of the aircraft must be self - developed, while hardware such as motors and batteries will be outsourced. We will leverage the advantages of industrial synergy and leave professional tasks to high - quality partners."

In fact, through the R & D path of "pilot verification of scaled - down models + collaboration of the supply chain system + engineering implementation of full - scale models", Weixin Aerospace has reduced early R & D costs and improved testing efficiency. At the early stage of R & D, its 1:4 scaled - down model also plays the dual roles of technical verification and meeting customized customer needs. It is reported that this segment of orders has achieved tens of millions of RMB in cumulative revenue in 2025.

However, He Wei also emphasized, "In the future, as the R & D of full - scale aircraft enters a high - intensity stage, the team's resources will be concentrated on full - scale aircraft, and the growth of the scaled - down model business is not the current focus. We will roll out two or three full - scale aircraft this year and conduct a large number of tests in different scenarios and working conditions. This is a major task for this year."

In other words, revenue figures are not the company's assessment indicator this year.

In fact, the low - altitude economy industry is still in the investment period of "accelerated technical verification + airworthiness certification sprint", rather than the output period of large - scale delivery. This means that for eVTOL start - up companies, at this stage, being able to complete technical and flight verification faster and more steadily and go through the airworthiness certification process is far more important than generating a few million in revenue in determining their industry ranking and survival probability.

From the valuation logic of the capital market, at this stage, institutions investing in eVTOL value the long - term trillion - level market space and ecological positioning more than short - term cash flow. Therefore, the core competition indicators during the industry's investment period are more focused on the speed of technological iteration, airworthiness progress, capital reserves, and the engineering capabilities of the team. Whoever obtains the three certificates first and establishes mass - production and supply - chain barriers first will dominate the large - scale competition after 2030.

He Wei mentioned that Weixin Aerospace is expected to achieve mass production in 2028. Currently, the company has about 100 letters of intent. In addition to state - owned enterprises and local customers, one - third of the business demand comes from overseas. In the future, as the team continues to explore the needs of overseas potential buyers, the proportion of global business is expected to further increase. Considering the friendliness of airworthiness certification, the Middle East and Southeast Asia will be the priority expansion regions.

Overall, in 2026, the primary market's attention to the low - altitude field is still increasing. There have been many large - scale financings in the first half of the year, and leading manufacturers are rushing to go public. The differentiation among different tiers is intensifying, and differentiated competition has become the key.

At this critical juncture that will determine the future ranking of the industry, He Wei hopes that Weixin Aerospace can become a "high - quality new force" in the low - altitude field - find a differentiated track, enter the market with lower R & D costs and a clearer rhythm. Take small steps quickly, complete technical verification at a lower cost at each time node, and bring differentiated models to the market as soon as possible.

"2027 is a critical node. The number of eVTOL companies in the industry may shrink to less than 10. Our goal is to become a leading player in the industry this year, make sufficient capital reserves to participate in subsequent competition, and continue to move towards the first tier," He Wei added.

It is reported that Weixin Aerospace is also in the process of a new round of financing.

Views from Investors

Ceyuan Capital said: The eVTOL industry is moving from the technical verification stage to the critical period of large - scale commercialization. Weixin Aerospace has fully leveraged its late - mover advantage. Its initial configuration meets airworthiness standards, and it has had its Type Certificate (TC) application accepted, quickly entering the core stage of airworthiness certification. As an investor, we will give full play to our investment layout in the aerospace field and the advantages of industrial resource integration, empower the enterprise to focus on self - developed core technologies, assist in promoting the airworthiness certification and commercialization process, and contribute to the high - quality development of the domestic low - altitude economy industrial ecosystem.