Jaunt Air Mobility has attracted two new private investors to help fund its plans to bring a four-passenger eVTOL aircraft to market in 2026. This week, the company announced that former Air Canada president and CEO Calin Rovinescu and technology investor Mitch Gerber are making undisclosed investments in the company and joining its group of advisors.
On March 10, the Texas-based company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the advanced air mobility group Airo, as part of an ongoing process of combining the various Airo businesses announced in October 2021. At the same time, it is establishing its new development and manufacturing facilities in the Montreal area.
Rovinescu led Air Canada from 2009 until his retirement in 2021. He also served on the executive board of the Star Alliance airline group and also as chairman of the board for the International Air Transport Association.
Garber, who like Rovinescu is Canadian, has made several early-stage investments in start-ups in sectors such as cloud computing, mobile games, and space, including Playtika, Snowflake, Datadog, Pipe.com, and Relativity Space. Jaunt’s statement said he has run several public companies and has been a co-investor in large private equity deals with Apollo Global Management and TPG. He is also chairman of Invest in Canada, and a co-owner of the Seattle Kraken National Hockey League team, and he stressed his desire to back Jaunt’s new venture in Canada.
“I have been impressed by Jaunt’s innovative but practical design, combining helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft flight capabilities, and the team’s entrepreneurship and understanding of what is required for certification, commercialization, and market penetration in this new and emerging eVTOL industry,” said Rovinescu. “I am especially pleased with the company’s plan to include Quebec and Canada in the design and manufacture of these aircraft involving new battery technology, digital capability, and advanced engineering.”
