Aviation Abu Dhabi-backed Archer to develop hybrid defence aircraft By Neil Halligan February 13, 2025, 2:43 PM Carlos Barria/Reuters Archer, an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) developer, said the capital will accelerate its new defence programme Funding round raises $300m Archer liquidity now at $1bn Plans to launch eVTOL in Abu Dhabi Archer Aviation, the California-based air taxi operator, has raised $300 million in a new funding round that involved institutional investors including funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. Archer, which describes itself as an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) developer, said the capital raise will accelerate the development of its aircraft and a new defence programme. Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer, said the demand for a hybrid vertical lift aircraft in defence “appears to be substantially larger than I originally expected”. “As a result, we are raising additional capital to help us invest in critical capabilities like composites and batteries to help enable us to capture this opportunity and more,” he said. Three vertiport locations identified in Abu Dhabi US developer to build flying taxis in Abu Dhabi Archer Aviation says UAE is ahead in air taxi race Archer didn’t reveal the full list of investors in this round, which brings its total liquidity to about $1 billion. It also didn’t disclose the valuation at which the new capital was raised. The Archer Defence programme was announced in December as part of a partnership with US defence tech firm, Anduril Industries, which specialises in autonomous systems. As part of the programme the companies will develop a hybrid VTOL targeting a “programme of record” – a government-approved and authorised acquisition programme – from the Pentagon. In the same announcement, Archer said it raised $430 million through an equity offering, which saw the participation of 2PointZero, a unit of UAE’s largest listed entity IHC, in the fundraising. Existing investors United Airlines and car company Stellantis took part in the round. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are developing plans to operate vertical take-off and landing aircraft in their respective emirates, with plans for vertiports already unveiled. Archer previously announced that it plans to operate its first flights in Abu Dhabi this year, once approval has been granted by state-run AD Mobility, which regulates the air mobility sector in the emirate. In October, Archer signed an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office to establish a manufacturing centre in Abu Dhabi.
