India, the world's most populous country, is experiencing increasing traffic congestion due to a rapid increase in private car ownership and a decline in the use of public and non-motorized transport, with relatively narrow roads and inadequate parking in urban areas. The parking lot is also a problem. New Delhi is aware of these challenges and has sought new ways to quickly address them.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at an event in September that air taxis will soon become “a reality in India”, indicating his government's interest in supporting the new mode of transportation. The country's aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, also recently drew up rules on vertiports to lay the foundation for air taxis.
ePlane is riding this wave.
Founded in 2019 by IIT Madras aerospace engineering professor Satya Chakravarthy, the startup developed an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle, the e200x, a few months after developing unmanned drones for cargo and camera applications. are. Mr. Chakravarthy has a strong background. He is also a co-founder and advisor to Indian space technology startups such as Agnikul and GalaxEye, as well as TuTr Hyperloop, an Indian hyperloop-focused startup.
Chakravarthy told TechCrunch that the development of a compact urban commuting and cargo-focused aircraft with a wingspan of 8 meters and a moderately slow flight speed, unlike typical air taxis with wingspans of 12 to 16 meters, ePlane said it has secured the IP. This will allow it to land in tighter spaces and make multiple short-distance flights (up to 60 round trips a day) on a single charge, he said. He said commuters can reduce their travel time by up to 85%, and the cost is less than twice the fare they would normally pay for an Uber ride.
Image credit: ePlane
Currently, most eVTOL vehicles are multicopters similar to commercial drones, such as air taxis with spokes and vertical rotors. Chakravarthy said that while this configuration is easy to develop and implement in the market, a single battery charge cannot cover long distances. ePlane chose a lift-plus-cruise configuration, with a winged structure similar to a typical airplane, but with vertical rotors similar to a drone.
“This configuration has proven to be very reliable in practice, as there is redundancy in terms of the vertical rotors supporting the weight of the aircraft, while at the same time the wings are progressively loaded with weight so that there is no loss of lift. “It's tasked with balancing 'during the transition from vertical takeoff and hover to forward flight,” he said.
The startup has also developed a technology called synergistic lift, which uses vertical rotors even in forward flight to make the wing compact enough.
Chakravarthy told TechCrunch that ePlane manufactures aircraft components such as fuselage parts and seat and propeller designs at its IIT Madras facility. Although the startup outsources its cells, it assembles aircraft batteries in its own facilities to manage the aircraft's center of gravity.
Chakravarthy told TechCrunch that the company plans to commercialize electric air taxis in mid-to-late 2026, after obtaining the necessary certifications from Indian and global authorities and prototyping the aircraft in the first half of 2025. He said he is aiming for
Ahead of vehicle testing, ePlane has raised $14 million in a Series B round co-led by Speciale Invest and Singapore's Antares Ventures. Micelio Mobility, Naval Ravikant, Java Capital, Samarthya Investment Advisors, Redstart (from Naukri), and Anicut also participated in this all-equity round. This round values the startup at $46 million post-cash, more than double its previous valuation of $21 million.
This new capital will help ePlane, which has more than 100 employees, secure global regulatory certifications and ramp up its commercialization efforts.
India's success will help ePlane enter other markets such as the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Europe.
“Going forward, we are confident that what is good for India will be good for the world,” Chakravarthy said.