Defunct electric aircraft startup Lilium’s tech lives on over at Archer

Electric aircraft startup Lilium could have ceased operations a 12 months ago, but its insolvency filing wasn’t quite the top of the German-based company.

There have been multiple failed attempts to restructure the corporate, including a last-ditch effort by Mobile Uplift Corporation, an organization arrange by investors from Europe and North America, to amass the operating assets of the startup’s two subsidiaries. Ultimately, a bankruptcy administrator put the corporate’s assets through a competitive bid process.

Now, a few of its tech will live to tell the tale over at Archer Aviation, which beat out Ambitious Air Mobility Group and U.S.-based Joby Aviation with the winning bid of €18 million ($21 million) for all 300 of Lilium’s patent assets. Joby confirmed it participated within the bid.

Lilium, which was founded in 2015, was developing a vertical take-off and landing aircraft with speeds of as much as 100 km/h. The corporate raised greater than $1 billion from investors before going public in 2021 on the Nasdaq via a merger with Qell, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). While it managed to land high-profile investors like Tencent and lock in customers, including an order for 100 electric jets from Saudi Arabia, it burned through money long before it could deliver a product.

The patents span critical eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) technologies, including high-voltage systems, flight controls, ducted fans, and advanced aircraft design, in line with an Archer spokesperson. The brand new patents represent a “strong addition” to Archer’s growing IP portfolio, which now totals greater than 1,000 global patent assets, the spokesperson noted in an email.

What Archer plans to do with those patents isn’t totally clear, although there are hints. Lilium’s electric ducted fans can be a superb application for light-sport or regional electric flight — which works beyond Archer’s original mission.

Archer, which went public in 2021 via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, initially focused on developing an air taxi network. It added a defense program in December, which included an exclusive cope with weapons manufacturer Anduril to jointly develop a hybrid gas-and-electric-powered VTOL aircraft for critical defense applications.