Czech startup Zuri this week launched a pre-Series A investment round in a bid to raise around €15 million ($16.5 million) in funds to support the development of a five-seat, hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft. Co-founder Michal Illich says the vehicle is expected to have a range of around 700 kilometers (380 nm), with a 30-minute energy reserve, and a cruise speed of 160 to 190 knots.
Since September 2021, Zuri’s team of 18 engineers has conducted hover testing with a technology demonstrator aircraft with an 11-meter (36-foot) wingspan. The company said it also achieved vertical to horizontal transition flights with the subscale model.
Illich told FutureFlight that he expects the aircraft to operate with a pilot and four passengers over regional routes. Preliminary design drawings show eight tilting propellers, with four sets installed on the wing and four on a V-shaped tail. The electric motors will operate in tandem with an as-yet-unspecified turbogenerator.
At the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany this week, Zuri is displaying a subscale model of the aircraft, as well as a virtual reality simulator. The company, which also exhibited at the Sustainable Skies event in the UK earlier this week, said the initial funding exercise will offer investors a 25 to 30 percent discount over the planned Series A round.
