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Heart Aerospace, a Swedish startup developing short haul hybrid-electric airplanes, has raised $107 million in Series B funding, bringing its total funding raised to $145 million to date.
- The round was led by EQT Ventures with participation from Sagitta Ventures, Air Canada, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, European Innovation Council Fund, Lowercarbon Capital, Norrsken VC, United Airlines, and Y Combinator
Heart Aero 101: The startup is developing a 30-seat regional airplane for short hauls, called ES-30, that it says will produce lower emissions and noise pollution and have lower operating costs.
- In its fully electric, zero-emissions configuration, in which the batteries power four electric motors, the ES-30 has a range of about 124 sm (108 nm).
- The aircraft can also be flown in reserve-hybrid configuration, using a pair of turbo generators running on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), that doubles the model’s range to 248 sm (215 nm).
Eventually, the company claims, it will cut emissions per seat in half compared to 50-seat turboprops on longer sectors, or by 90 percent if SAF is used.
“Billions of people around the world are looking to be connected to this amazing infrastructure over the next decade,” said Anders Forslund, co-founder and CEO of Heart Aerospace. “Meanwhile, the industry has committed to net-zero emissions by 2050. The only way forward is to decouple the tremendous growth in aviation from its emissions, and we believe ES-30 is the first stepping stone.”
Looking ahead: With the funding, Heart is aiming to make progress toward type certification with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and develop the hybrid-electric aeroplane over the next 12 months. Heart’s long term goal is to launch its airplanes by 2028.
- Heart already has 250 orders for the ES-30, with options and purchase rights for an additional 120 planes.
- The company also has letters of intent for another 191 airplanes.
