US startup Doroni to bring recreational flying cars to Gulf

March 6, 2025, 1:54 PM

Funds raised are expected to go towards localising manufacturing of Doroni’s H1-X eVTOL in Saudi Arabia

Doroni secures additional $150m
Second Saudi investor involved
Backed by Kingdom Aero Industries

Doroni Aerospace, a US developer of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, last week secured an additional $150 million from a Saudi investor.

The investment came only days after the company announced an initial $30 million deal with Kingdom Aero Industries (KAI).

Florida-based Doroni was launched in 2017 and is working to manufacture US Federal Aviation Administration-certified, market-ready prototypes of recreational eVTOLs by the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027. It wants to scale up commercial production after that.

Doroni announced on February 20 that Riyadh-based KAI would put $30 million into the company over two years to bring the prototypes to market, and ultimately become a 40 percent shareholder.

During a call with AGBI on Wednesday, Doroni’s founder and chief executive Doron Merdinger said he secured a second commitment of $150 million during a visit to Saudi Arabia last week.

These funds are slated to go toward localising manufacturing of Doroni’s H1-X eVTOL in the kingdom, most likely with a facility in the Medina area.

KAI’s chief executive Ismail Kashkash initially contacted Merdinger on LinkedIn in the past year and a close business relationship and friendship developed, according to Doroni’s CEO.

“It was a surprise, though we knew that Saudi Arabia was interested in bringing the most advanced technologies over there,” he said.

Merdinger added that he has also fielded inquiries from the UAE and other countries in the Gulf but is not able to disclose more at this stage.

“That region is big in terms of aerospace and aviation in general and they’re definitely looking at these electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles,” he said.

Other companies are vying to bring flying cars to the UAE and beyond.

In March of last year, Dubai-based Aviterra agreed to buy 100 Liberty flying cars, or the world’s first operational eVTOL with a 500km range, from PAL-V as well as investing in the Dutch firm.

Air taxis are also on the radar. Various plans to build the necessary infrastructure and soft launch them in Dubai and Abu Dhabi involve New York Stock Exchange-listed Joby Aviation, Abu Dhabi-backed American company Archer Aviation and the UAE’s Falcon Aviation.

Merdinger says Doroni will focus on recreational vehicles first as a means to “dip our feet in the water” and demonstrate the reliability and safety of the technology. But he is confident that eVTOL will ultimately transform day-to-day commuting.

“I’m not that concerned about demand, I’m more concerned with how fast we can scale up production,” Merdinger told AGBI. “We already have over 500 pre-order requests and people already deposited, so for us it is really how fast we can go to market.”