Volocopter remains grounded; court opens insolvency proceedings

The provisional insolvency proceedings at air taxi manufacturer Volocopter are turning into regular insolvency proceedings. The search for investors that began in December is still ongoing, although a restructuring concept was supposed to be in place by the end of February. Volocopter's future thus remains up in the air.

Volocopter filed for insolvency at the end of December. After Lilium, it was the second German e-VTOL startup to do so. Since December, the provisional insolvency administrator Tobias Wahl from Anchor Rechtsanwälte has been working on a reorganisation solution. Business operations initially continued, and Volocopter announced its intention to “develop a restructuring concept by the end of February and implement it with investors” by the end of February. “The company needs financing to take the final steps towards market entry,” said Wahl.

However, as the German press agency DPA, among others, writes, a solution is still a long time coming, and the provisional proceedings have now been transferred to regular insolvency proceedings by the Karlsruhe district court. The news agency quotes a court spokeswoman with the following statement: “The opening of insolvency proceedings is independent of a potential continuation solution for the company and the business operations of Volocopter GmbH, but always follows the insolvency application proceedings in terms of procedure.”

Volocopter was founded in Bruchsal, Germany, in 2011 and is working on an all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Like several companies in this future-oriented sector, Volocopter is about to obtain type certification and launch its urban eVTOL called VoloCity. However, Volocopter required a great deal of capital for its development. And finally, investors became scarce: “Despite recent intensive fundraising efforts, finding a viable solution to maintain regular operations outside of insolvency proceedings has not been possible,” said the management in December, explaining the reasons for filing for insolvency. However, “with one of the lowest burn rates in the industry, Volocopter has successfully operated in an extremely difficult financial environment.”

The fact that Volocopter is not giving up is also shown by a deal recently concluded with the French company Jet Systems Hélicoptères Services. Both sides have signed an agreement to bring services for vertical take-off electric aircraft to France.

Update 04 March 2025

The approximately 500 employees of Volocopter received their notice of termination on Monday, as the German business publication WirtschaftsWoche has learnt from the company environment. In the report, the paper writes that all employees were fired, effective immediately, and are to hand in their work equipment by Monday, of which the employees were notified via an internal email.

“The current situation is challenging for all of us, and we thank you for your commitment and professionalism during this difficult time. With the filing for insolvency and the associated release, a process is now beginning that is associated with time-critical organisational steps,” the HR department wrote to the workforce.

As the insolvency benefit has already been exhausted, the authority is to pay the remaining salaries as part of the equalisation scheme. However, the Wirtschaftswoche does not see this as the final nail in the coffin yet, adding that “According to WirtschaftsWoche, no suitable buyer has yet been found. A solution is still being discussed with various existing shareholders and new investors.”

manager-magazin.de, heise.de (all in German), wiwo.de (update, in German)