Just after securing 2 billion yuan, this eVTOL company has raised funds again.

Heavy news has once again come from the low - altitude economy track.

Today, Volant Aero announced the completion of a nearly 1 billion yuan Series C+ financing round. This round of financing was led by China Life Venture Capital, with Shanghai Minhang Investment, NIO Capital, Cornerstone Capital, and existing shareholder China Internet Investment Fund participating in the follow - on investment.

This is already the second round of financing the company has received within a month. On April 27, Volant Aero completed a Series C financing round worth up to $300 million (approximately 2 billion yuan), breaking the record for the largest single - transaction financing in China's manned eVTOL field to date.

As a follow - up round to the Series C, this financing shows obvious differences in the composition of investors. In the list of investors for the Series C, Leishi, Sequoia China, Futeng Capital, Mingshi Venture Capital, and Legend Capital represented international sovereign capital, leading US - dollar VCs, local core state - owned assets, and established industrial VCs respectively. In terms of type, they focused on strategic positioning, global layout, and government endorsement. In contrast, in the Series C+ round, in addition to local state - owned assets, insurance funds, industrial leaders, and market - oriented PEs were newly introduced.

The low - altitude travel industry is a typical "slow - burning" industry. It has a high investment threshold, great R & D difficulty, strict airworthiness standards, and its development depends on the linkage of the entire industrial chain. Currently, although Volant's business is mainly targeted at the enterprise side, it will gradually move towards the mass consumer market in the future. Therefore, it is not difficult to see that in the selection of investors this time, the company values the investors' ability to empower in aspects such as commercialization, scenario expansion, and industrial ecosystem building. The introduction of long - term funds such as insurance funds is in line with the long - cycle characteristics of the low - altitude industry.

When talking about the use of the financing, Dong Ming, the founder and CEO of Volant Aero, said that the funds will be used to continuously promote key work such as test flights and airworthiness certification. At the same time, relying on the increasingly perfect shareholder matrix, the company will integrate industrial chain resources, accelerate the airworthiness certification process of the first product, and strive to achieve compliant commercial operation as soon as possible.

13 Rounds of Financing in 5 Years, with a Total Financing of Over 5 Billion Yuan

If we were to draw a curve of Volant's financing history, it would definitely be a sharply upward - sloping line.

In June 2021, Volant was founded in a small room in Minhang, Shanghai. Just one month after its establishment, the company received a seed - round financing of millions of dollars led by Shunwei Capital, with Ventech China participating in the follow - on investment. Within less than a year after that, Volant successively completed the angel round and Pre - A round of financing, with Mingshi Capital, QingSong Fund, and Weiguang Venture Capital entering the scene one after another.

The real "steep" part started in 2024. In this year, the low - altitude economy was written into the government work report for the first time, and the popularity at the conceptual level was quickly translated into capital enthusiasm. Volant completed 6 rounds of financing in one year, including Series A, Series A+, Series A++, Series A+++, Series A++++, and Pre - B, with a total financing amount of over $150 million. During this period, a number of institutions such as CDH Baifu, Qifu Capital, Legend Capital, Nanshan Strategic New Industry Investment, Shoucheng Capital, Shougang Fund, Beijing Robotics Industry Investment Fund, and China Internet Investment Fund all increased their investments, making Volant a star enterprise in the low - altitude capital market at that time.

As a "dark horse" in China's capital market in 2024, Volant's financing experience was selected into the "2024 Demonstration Cases of Small and Medium - Sized Enterprise Financing" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

In 2025, with the first aircraft AC101 of Volant's development batch being rolled off the production line and continuous breakthroughs in test flights, Volant continued to be favored by the capital market. It successively completed the Series B and Series B+ rounds of financing. SAIC Venture Capital, Huaying Capital, Jinding Capital, along with five listed companies including Bethel, Aima Technology, and Jingduan Technology, collectively placed their bets. The concentrated entry of industrial capital also marked that Volant's financing had entered a new stage.

As we all know, in 2026, the company completed two rounds of large - scale financing within a month. Especially in the Series C round, it not only broke the record for the largest single - transaction financing in China's manned eVTOL field to date but also marked the first investment of three new investors, Leishi, Sequoia China, and Shanghai state - owned Futeng Capital, in an eVTOL aircraft manufacturer.

So far, in 5 years since its establishment, Volant has completed 13 rounds of financing, with a total financing amount of over 5 billion yuan. It is the company with the most financing rounds, the highest cumulative financing amount, and the largest single - transaction financing scale in China's low - altitude economy field.

After going through multiple rounds of financing, Dong Ming has a deeper understanding of the financing strategy. In his view, the aviation industry requires a long - term perspective. He hopes that the shareholder structure can be diversified and form an effective complement to maintain the long - term capital stability of the company and avoid a single capital structure. At the same time, strategic synergy takes precedence over valuation. He prefers to choose industrial partners deeply bound to low - altitude operations, aviation leasing, the automotive/new energy supply chain, and the overseas travel market, and values order synergy and scenario implementation capabilities rather than simply raising the valuation.

Behind this calmness lies the confidence built by 5 billion yuan in capital.

Behind the Orders Worth Over 10 Billion: 5 Years of Consistent Positive R & D

The core confidence of Volant to receive such intensive and large - scale capital investment first comes from a team with profound experience.

Dong Ming, the founder and CEO of the company, has more than 20 years of aviation industry experience. He has worked at AVIC, GE, and Rockwell Collins in the United States and was deeply involved in the development of the ARJ21, C919, and CR929 aircraft.

In 2016, the Uber Elevate air taxi plan in the United States triggered a global wave of eVTOL. At that time, as a member of the NASA Vertical Flight Working Group (VF) and GAMA, ASTM, Dong Ming participated in the formulation of the US advanced air traffic roadmap and relevant industry standards. It was this cutting - edge experience that gave him a profound and forward - looking understanding of eVTOL technology and the market.

Dong Ming recalled that as early as around 2018, he judged that eVTOL would be a disruptive innovation, and its value would even exceed that of traditional large aircraft. "The ARJ21, C919, etc. are 'follow - up innovations' that the country must achieve, which are major breakthroughs in industrial upgrading, but in essence, they are no different from Boeing and Airbus. However, eVTOL may fundamentally change people's living, working, and lifestyle, reshape the paradigm of social and economic operation, and its potential influence is greater and more far - reaching than that of traditional large aircraft."

At the same time, he believes that the scale of the Chinese market will exceed that of the United States in the future, based on three core reasons: First, the current stage of China's economic development is giving rise to explosive demand for inter - city, intra - city, and public services. Second, the large population and the number of cities bring huge transportation demand. Third, the rapid formation and agglomeration of the new - energy vehicle industrial chain provide a solid industrial foundation for eVTOL.

With this firm judgment, Dong Ming founded Volant Aero in Minhang, Shanghai in 2021 and bet on the most difficult direction recognized in the entire track at that time - commercial passenger eVTOL.

Volant has also proven its choice with solid phased results. In terms of R & D efficiency, just three months after its establishment, the company completed the first flight of the scaled - down aircraft Tiny. It took only 1 year and 7 months from the establishment to the first flight of the full - scale technology verification aircraft X1, while overseas companies at the same level usually take 6 - 7 years, and domestic companies on average need 3 - 5 years.

In September 2023, the company completed the in - field conversion test flight of the X1, becoming the second manned eVTOL company in the world of the same configuration to achieve this flight maneuver. In the same month, the application for the Type Certificate (TC) of the first commercial electric vertical take - off and landing aircraft VE25 - 100 was accepted by the East China Regional Administration of CAAC, which was also the first high - level commercial passenger eVTOL project accepted by this institution.

In October 2025, the company completed the first manned flight in China's eVTOL industry. So far, through 5 years of efforts, the R & D gap between China's commercial passenger eVTOL and the international advanced level has been shortened to only 8 months.

In Dong Ming's view, behind these achievements is the result of the team's consistent positive R & D and strict management. Since its establishment, the company has established a clear technology and product plan and has always strictly implemented the R & D and engineering management processes in line with civil aviation standards. Even in the stage when financing was not going smoothly, R & D still continuously produced positive results, which not only laid the foundation for the signing of subsequent commercial orders but also won the continuous favor of multiple investment institutions.

On the commercialization front, as of now, the company has received over 1,900 orders globally, one - third of which are from overseas, with an order value of over 47.5 billion yuan. It has also obtained confirmed orders from multiple industry leaders such as China Southern General Aviation, Asia Jet, and ABC Financial Leasing, and received nearly 100 million yuan in deposits.

According to the current progress, Volant's first model is expected to obtain the TC (Type Certificate) in 2027 and then enter the stage of large - scale commercial delivery.

The Window Period is Only Three Years, and There are No More Than Five Global Finalists

When talking about the biggest feeling during this financing process, Dong Ming shared an observation: In the past, he had to repeatedly explain industry rumors about aircraft weight and other aspects to investors and popularize the difference between carrying people and carrying passengers. But now, investment institutions' understanding of aircraft development has significantly improved. "Our clear analysis is easily understood by them, and many rumors are self - refuted, which also accelerates the investment process of investment institutions in us."

Behind the change in investors' understanding reflects that the industry is moving from chaos to convergence. Looking at the development in recent years, China's manned eVTOL industry has gone through the stages of technology verification and concept development. Dong Ming believes that the focus of competition in the next stage will shift from simple technology competition to a comprehensive competition in airworthiness mass production, commercialization, and comprehensive operation capabilities.

Specifically, first, airworthiness certification and mass production and delivery have become the core thresholds. Whoever can complete the type certificate first, build a stable mass - production line, and achieve large - scale delivery can seize the market opportunity.

Second, commercial operation and scenario implementation are the keys to competition. Enterprises are no longer just aircraft manufacturers. They need to assist customers in opening up the entire chain of airspace approval, route planning, operation and maintenance support, and compliant operation to seize application scenarios such as urban air traffic, cultural tourism, and emergency response.

At the same time, the supply chain and cost control are becoming increasingly important. The localization of core components and the ability to reduce costs through scale directly determine the competitiveness of products. In addition, the ability to integrate capital and the ecosystem is prominent. The binding of high - quality industrial capital, operators, and local resources can quickly build barriers.

Finally, policy compliance and safety reputation will widen the gap. Enterprises that meet regulatory standards and ensure flight safety are more likely to gain market trust and achieve long - term value realization.

Dong Ming predicts that the industry window period only has the next 3 years left. "In the eVTOL field, especially in the high - level commercial sector, there will not be hundreds of players like in the car - making industry. The next 3 years are the decisive window period, and the key to victory lies in who can complete large - scale commercial verification first and establish a real economic value closed - loop. In the end, there will be no more than 5 substantial players globally and no more than 3 in China."

Volant's goal is to become a leading commercial passenger eVTOL enterprise in China and among the world's first - tier players, and to be the first to achieve airworthiness delivery and commercialization.

Of course, Dong Ming didn't explicitly state the more ambitious goal, but it is clearly presented on Volant's official website - to become the most valuable enterprise in the second century of human aviation.

This article is from the WeChat official account "China Venture Capital", author: Wang Manhua, editor: Wang Qingwu. Republished by 36Kr with permission.