Skyfly Technologies, the UK developer of electric and hybrid-electric vertically capable aircraft, reports it has closed a USD10 million seed round led by specialist growth equity investor, HICO Investment Group, with participation from Archangel, Europe’s defence technology fund.
“The investment takes the Axe, Skyfly’s two-seat electric aircraft that takes off like a helicopter and flies like an aeroplane, from flying prototype to certified production aircraft in customers’ hands,” said the company in a press release.
“The timing is deliberate. In July 2026 the United States Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) MOSAIC reforms rewrote the Light Sport Aircraft rules, admitting electric propulsion, multi-motor designs and vertical take-off aircraft into a category built for private owners rather than airlines. The Axe was designed for that rulebook before it existed. The new funding will complete the aircraft’s certification under the updated standards, grow the team and production capacity on both sides of the Atlantic, and accelerate the hybrid propulsion system behind the Longbow, the unmanned, longer-range variant of the Axe aimed at defence and government customers.”
The company says its prototype has flown more than 100 times, completed Europe’s first airfield-to-airfield eVTOL flight and holds experimental flight permits in both the UK and the United States, where a dedicated flight test team has been flying since 2025.
The Axe is a two-seater with a projected running cost of around UKP70 (USD90) per flying hour, says the company. It has a range of more than 100 miles, a flight time of 60 to 90 minutes, a cruising speed of 100mph and a 200kg payload, and it needs no runway. Its airframe is technology-agnostic, so new battery and motor technology can be fitted as it becomes available, and it is built around aggressive weight reduction through advanced composite structures, delivering what the company describes as industry-leading efficiency measured in kilowatts per passenger mile. Alongside the Axe, Skyfly is developing the Longbow, a hybrid-electric unmanned aircraft with a range of more than 400 miles and a 200kg payload, designed for cargo resupply, ISTAR, medevac and ship-to-shore logistics. Skyfly has been enrolled onto the UK Ministry of Defence’s heavy lift challenge.
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(Image: Skyfly)