Lilium Expresses Optimism About German Government Financing

GENEVA—The chief commercial officer of Lilium expressed confidence about the prospects of securing $100 million in loan guarantees from the German federal and Bavarian state governments, financing that he said would be sufficient to carry the startup most of the way to type certification. 

Lilium has been in talks with its government counterparts since last year, although that process has stalled over objections from some political factions. But momentum seems to be on the upswing once again, after the German government commissioned state development bank KfW to conduct due diligence on Lilium, a development that came shortly after Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe publicly raised the possibility of expanding operations into France with potential state-backing. 

“I can only assume that everything is going to go well,” Lilium Chief Commercial Officer Sebastien Borel told Aviation Week on the sidelines of the European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition here. “I have confidence today that the German government understands how important this industry is for the country. Where we stand today is we actually have two governments [Germany and France] who understand where we need to go and want to help us get there. There are always tension points when you’re talking about politics and money, but right now we are quite optimistic.” 

Borel said the German government has been encouraged by Lilium’s continued technology and certification progress, with the company having received its European Union Aviation Safety Agency design organization approval (DOA), while nearing completion of its first full-scale Lilium Jet. 

“The fact that we’re building [prototypes] MSN-1 and MSN-2 now, that gets a lot of attention from the government,” Borel said. “They want to see a real project that can see the light of day, and with Lilium, they view us as a company with a 30- or 50-year horizon. They don’t care about the next five years; they want us to go out and bring a lasting solution. They are asking not only about the Lilium Jet we have now, but about future bigger-capacity aircraft that we could launch in the future. So they are thinking long-term and strategically about supporting Lilium and electric aviation.” 

While Lilium recently returned to the capital markets with a $114 million public and private share sale, Borel said he is confident the company can continue to find nondilutive funding sources to carry it to type certification in 2026. 

“We’re making sure we can get non-dilutive funding, either pre-delivery deposits, or government loans,” Borel said. “Every year we’re asked about our runway, and we always make it work and raise what we need to raise. We know exactly what we’re doing. We have various options available to us; it’s just about trying to make sure that from a shareholder perspective we do it in the best possible way.”