Lilium lays off almost all staff pending impending liquidation
December 23, 2024
Bankrupt air taxi startup Lilium has laid off almost all its employees, according to German media Gründerszene, citing “several sources within the company”. Writing on social media, Lilium co-founder Patrick Nathen confirmed that “after ten years and ten months, it’s a sad reality that Lilium has ceased operations”.
With Lilium not yet able to close a deal with a potential investor, it subsequently “laid off almost all of its employees on Friday afternoon,” continued the publication, adding that “a small double-digit number of people will remain employed for the time being to support an impending liquidation”.
Founded in 2015, the German evTOL developer has faced a financially turbulent year; compounded when the company’s attempt to secure a loan worth a combined €100 million (backed in equal parts by the federal government and the state of Bavaria) fell short. At the time, Lilium co-founder speculated that if the funding lifeline was denied (something which transpired in October), “we would not be able to keep the company in its current form in Germany”. In May 2024, Lilium had also suggested that it was “in advanced discussions with the French government on plans to expand its high-volume capacity with an industrial footprint in France”.
Although delisted from the New York Stock Exchange at the end of October and subsequently filing for self-appointed insolvency proceeding, Lilium stated it remained “fully focused on re-emerging following restructuring”, having appointed KPMG to “conduct an open, transparent and fair [merger and acquisition] process”. With development work continuing, Lilium engineers moved the second of the company’s two fully-assembled Lilium Jet airframes into its static test rig, with the latest milestone – the successful completion of a landing gear drop test – completed in November.
Whilst it’s unclear what will happen next to Lilium’s assets, it seems that no further funding could be found in time to save the struggling company – despite CEO Klaus Rowe remaining optimistic last month that “fresh investment to support the all-electric Lilium Jet’s path to certification and entry into service” could be obtained.
As of last month, Lilium’s order book stood at 108 firm orders and reservation, 82 options, and nearly 60 aircraft under MoU; with Rowe hoping to achieve type certification prior to the aircraft’s entry into service as soon as 2026.
“Never let the naysayers diminish what you’ve achieved,” wrote Nathen to his fellow Lilium staff. “Building a company from scratch to tackle one of the most complex technical challenges of our time is nothing but extraordinary. Your legacy will echo through the deep-tech world”.
