Lilium was once the darling of the emerging electric aircraft industry, raising more than $1 billion before going public, but after efforts to raise money and emerge from bankruptcy failed, it shut down operations and left about 1,000 employees. employees were fired.
The publication Gründersene first reported the layoffs. Patrick Nathen, co-founder and CEO of Lilium, confirmed on LinkedIn that the company has ceased operations after 10 years.
“It is a sad fact that after 10 years and 10 months, Lilium has ceased operations. The company that Daniel, Sebastian, Mathias and I founded can no longer pursue our shared belief in greener aviation. “This is heartbreaking, and the timing feels painfully ironic,” Nathen wrote.
The layoffs affect the majority of the company's workforce and come days after about 200 employees were laid off, according to a Dec. 16 regulatory filing.
A spokesperson for Lilium responded to an email seeking comment but did not provide any information. The email said, “The company will contact you as soon as we can say something.''
Lilium, which was developing a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft with a top speed of 100km/h, has been struggling for several months. The startup's vision for electric aircraft has attracted backers such as Tencent and has locked down customers, including an order for 100 electric jets from Saudi Arabia. The company went public on the Nasdaq exchange in 2021 through a reverse merger with blank check company SPAC Qell.
Although the company had made some progress, including powering up its first full-scale prototype, it was still years away from delivering a product.
Lilium announced in October that it would file for bankruptcy protection (the equivalent of bankruptcy in the United States) after failing to obtain emergency funding from the German government. Due to bankruptcy, Lilium lost control of its subsidiaries, including Lilium eAircraft. KPMG was in charge of the sale process.