TECHNOLOGY
journey in a Lilium jet would be $ 36 , going down to just $ 6 long term as the business becomes more established and the infrastructure grows .
David Wallerstein , Chief Exploration Officer at Tencent , explains the importance of the Lilium jet . He says : “ Transportation technologies play a fundamental role in structuring our everyday lives . Lilium ’ s electric powered eVTOL aircraft offers new mobility options that can benefit people around the world . From underdeveloped regions with poor road infrastructure , to the developed world with traffic congestion and sprawl , new possibilities emerge when convenient daily flight becomes an option for all of us . Lilium offers a substantial and environmentally-friendly transportation breakthrough for humanity .”
Lilium isn ’ t the only disruptive transport company to receive this kind of investment . In August 2017 , German carmaker Daimler was part of a consortium to invest € 25mn in Volocopter , a rival flying taxi startup . Volocopter is progressing quickly with trials of its autonomous air taxi starting in Dubai this year .
Investment in these kind of businesses is important for Europe ’ s startup scene . Not only are investors thinking about the future of transport and helping to move it along by funding projects such as Lilium , but these developments can only give a boost to other technology companies in Germany .
Germany ’ s startup scene is booming : in the first half of 2017 , the amount of money invested into German companies grew 123 % on
22 December 2017