Lilium faces insolvency again
February 21, 2025
Efforts to rescue eVTOL start-up Lilium have failed, with the company filing for insolvency again on Friday 21 February at Weilheim Local Court in Germany.
A statement from Lilium simply read: “As the funding options to secure Lilium’s future have not materialised in time, Lilium Aerospace has filed for insolvency today. While talks about alternative arrangements are still ongoing, the chance for restructuring right now is highly unlikely and therefore operations will be stopped.”
Persistent struggles
The German start-up’s struggles have persisted in recent months with the company initially filing for ‘self-administration’ insolvency proceedings in October last year after failing to secure a combined loan worth €100 million from the German federal government and the state of Bavaria. However, it seemed the company had been offered a lifeline when a consortium of investors, including prominent German start-up investors Jan Beckers, Christian Reber and Frank Thelen, stepped in on Christmas Eve to rescue the company. The mobile Uplift Corporation signed a US$200 million purchase agreement for the assets of the Lilium subsidiaries, recalling laid-off employees and rebranding the business as Lilium Aerospace.
The deal was expected to be finalised by the end of January. Earlier this year a spokesperson from the former MUC confirmed to Aerospace Global News that “efforts to rescue Lilium from insolvency are in full swing,” with the investor consortium “working intensively to ensure that operations can be resumed as soon as possible” and that “the delay in bringing the Lilium jet to market caused by the insolvency is kept to a minimum.”
However, the €200 million funding was contingent on a restructuring process that had not been completed, and the funds never materialised. By mid-February, Lilium’s situation had worsened with employees still awaiting payment for the previous month’s salaries and a GoFundMe campaign launched to raise funds for employees who were unable to cover their living costs. Meanwhile, investor Frank Thelen admitted the company was burning through €10 million per month just to cover its operating expenses.
Deep regret
In its statement on Friday, Lilium expressed regret over the situation: “This is deeply regretful for all employees and Lilium Aerospace thanks them for their resilience and dedication.”
