Defunct electric aircraft startup Lilium’s tech lives on over at Archer

Electric aircraft startup Lilium may have ceased operations a year ago, but its insolvency filing wasn’t quite the end of the German-based company.

There were multiple failed attempts to restructure the company, including a last-ditch effort by Mobile Uplift Corporation, a company set up by investors from Europe and North America, to acquire the operating assets of the startup’s two subsidiaries. Ultimately, a bankruptcy administrator put the company’s assets through a competitive bid process.

Now some of its tech will live on over at Archer Aviation, which beat out Ambitious Air Mobility Group and U.S.-based Joby Aviation with the winning bid of €18 million ($21 million) for all 300 of Lilium’s patent assets. Joby confirmed it participated in the bid.

Lilium, which was founded in 2015, was developing a vertical take-off and landing aircraft with speeds of up to 100 km/h. The company raised more than $1 billion from investors before going public in 2021 on the Nasdaq via a merger with Qell, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). While it managed to land high-profile investors like Tencent and lock in customers, including an order for 100 electric jets from Saudi Arabia, it burned through cash long before it could deliver a product.

The patents span critical eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) technologies, including high-voltage systems, flight controls, ducted fans, and advanced aircraft design, according to an Archer spokesperson. The new patents represent a “strong addition” to Archer’s growing IP portfolio, which now totals more than 1,000 global patent assets, the spokesperson noted in an email.

What Archer plans to do with those patents isn’t totally clear, although there are hints. Lilium’s electric ducted fans would be a good application for light-sport or regional electric flight — which goes beyond Archer’s original mission.

Archer, which went public in 2021 via a merger with a SPAC, initially focused on developing an air taxi network. It added a defense program in December, which included an exclusive deal with weapons manufacturer Anduril to jointly develop a hybrid gas-and-electric-powered VTOL aircraft for critical defense applications.