Entering the race to decarbonize aviation in 2018, Ascendance Flight Technologies is taking a new step. The Toulouse start-up, which is working on a small hybrid plane, called Atea, announced that it had raised a second round of 21 million euros, completed in March with its historical investors and new partners. The French Tech Sovereignty fund, piloted by Bpifrance, Charles Beigbeder and François Chopard, via their Expansion fund or the Occitanie Region, via the Aris fund, are joining the adventure. This, alongside historical partners: Habert Dassault Finance, Céleste Management, Irdi, and M-Capital who are also reinvesting.
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“It’s a signal for our investors and a big step forward to start the concept”, explains Jean-Christophe Lambert, co-founder and president of this company which employs fifty-five employees. “These new means will finance the phase full-scale prototyping of our hybrid aircraft, pre-industrialization and the continuation of certification work and the performance of tests. »
A production of one hundred aircraft per year
Founded by four former Airbus engineers who worked on the E-Fan electric plane, the young company had already raised 10 million euros in July 2021 to launch two wind tunnel campaigns in order to test the aerodynamics of the aircraft. aircraft and the development of an engine test bed. This vertical take-off and landing device, with a range of 400 km, is designed as an alternative to helicopters. “It will be multi-purpose. It will be able to transport people, provide medical services and surveillance,” said the president, confirming that 245 letters of intent to purchase have been signed, in particular by PhilJetsAero, Helifirts and My Flight Share.
Ascendance Flight Technologies has deployed on two sites. The headquarters and the hybrid propulsion test bench are in Montaudran, in Toulouse, and for three weeks the aircraft test bench has been installed in a building built on the edge of the runway at the Muret-Lherm aerodrome. . But the start-up sees bigger. To manufacture a hundred planes a year, it plans to move to a larger site in France.
Audrey Sommazi
On the photo of a: a model of the Atea plane in November 2021.
On the second photo: Jean-Christophe Lambert, co-founder and president of Ascendance Flight Technologies. Credit: Rémy Gabalda – ToulÉco.