Lilium

Overview

Lilium was a German electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer founded in 2015 and headquartered in Weßling near Munich, where it developed the Lilium Jet for regional air mobility.
Why this entity matters

Lilium and Volocopter were the two German companies most closely associated with Europe's advanced air mobility sector between 2015 and 2024. Lilium raised more than one billion US dollars in private and public-market capital and became a standing reference point for the capital intensity of German deep-tech hardware ventures.
Company or institutional background

Lilium was founded in 2015 by Daniel Wiegand, Sebastian Born, Matthias Meiner and Patrick Nathen, four engineers and doctoral students at the Technical University of Munich, and named after the aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal. Its ducted electric fan architecture differed from the multirotor designs pursued by most peers. The company completed a business combination with the special-purpose acquisition company Qell Acquisition Corp in September 2021 and traded on Nasdaq as Lilium N.V. In October 2024 the German operating subsidiaries Lilium GmbH and Lilium eAircraft GmbH applied for insolvency proceedings under self-administration. A planned acquisition of the operating assets by the investor consortium Mobile Uplift Corporation was not completed, the successor company filed for insolvency again in February 2025, and operations ceased. The shares were delisted from Nasdaq in 2025, and the estate was realised in parts, including the sale of the patent portfolio to Archer Aviation.
Role in the DACH startup and technology ecosystem

Lilium anchored the Bavarian advanced air mobility cluster around Weßling and Oberpfaffenhofen and drew aerospace engineering talent from Airbus and the Technical University of Munich into a venture-funded setting.
Selected relationships and affiliations

Lilium competed directly with Volocopter in the German eVTOL field. Its investors over time included Atomico, Tencent and LGT, and it signed commercial agreements with partners including Honeywell and Saudia Group. Its patent portfolio passed to Archer Aviation in 2025.
Startuprad.io relevance

Lilium has recurred in Startuprad.io's coverage of German deep tech, hardware financing and advanced air mobility, and is a standing comparison case whenever the funding requirements of European hardware ventures are discussed.
Public source context

Public information used for this record is drawn from Lilium's own https://lilium.com , its https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilium_GmbH and https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q62027797 , and public reporting on the insolvency proceedings of the German operating companies between October 2024 and 2025.

Startuprad.io coverage of Lilium

Niklas Zennstroem and Germany: The Swedish VC Patriarch Whose Most Painful Bet Was Bavarian
Published: 26 June 2026
Last updated: 30 August 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/niklas-zennström-and-germany-the-swedish-vc-patriarch-whose-most-painful-bet-was-bavarian

Startup News Germany (and DACH) - April 2023
Published: 15 March 2026
Last updated: 29 August 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-april-2023-episode-380

Episode #376 This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups - March 2023
Published: 15 March 2026
Last updated: 29 August 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/episode-376-this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-march-2023

This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups - October 2022 Wrap-Up
Published: 15 March 2026
Last updated: 29 August 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-october-2022-wrap-up

This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups - November 2022 Wrap-Up
Published: 15 March 2026
Last updated: 27 August 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-november-2022-wrap-up

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Canonical record: https://www.startuprad.io/entities/lilium