Defunct electric aircraft startup Lilium’s tech lives on over at Archer

Electric aircraft startup Lilium may have ceased operations a year ago, but its bankruptcy filing wasn’t quite the end of the German-based company.

There have been multiple failed attempts to restructure the company, including the last attempt by Mobile Uplift Corporation, a company founded by European and North American investors to acquire the operating assets of the startup’s two subsidiaries. Ultimately, a bankruptcy administrator keeps the company’s assets through a competitive bid process.

Now, some of its technology will go to Archer Aviation, which beat out ambitious Air Mobility Group and US-based Joby Aviation. Winning bid €18 million ($21 million) for all 300 patent assets of Lilium. Jobi Aviation has confirmed that it has participated in the tender.

Lilium, which was founded in 2015, was developing a vertical take-off and landing aircraft at a speed of 100 km/h. The company has raised more than $1 billion from investors before going public on the Nasdaq exchange in 2021 through a reverse merger with SPAC Qell, a blank-check company. Although it managed to land high-profile investors like Tencent and lock in customers, one of Order for 100 electric jets From Saudi Arabia, it burns through cash long before it delivers a product.

An Archer spokesman said the patents span critical eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) technologies, including high-voltage systems, flight controls, ducted fans and advanced aircraft design. The new patent represents a “strong addition” to Archer’s growing IP portfolio, which now totals more than 1,000 global patent assets, the spokesperson noted in an email.

It’s not entirely clear what Archer plans to do with these patents, though there are hints. Lilium’s electrically ducted propellers would be a good application for light-sport or regional electric flight—which goes beyond Archer’s original mission.

Archer, which is a medium for the public in 2021 A merger with a special purpose acquisition companyInitially the focus was on developing an air taxi network. It added a defense program in December, including an exclusive contract with arms maker Anduril to jointly develop a hybrid gas-and-electric powered VTOL aircraft for critical defense applications.