TDK Ventures has dipped into its $50-million corporate venture capital fund to invest in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) company AutoFlightX.

With their ability to navigate dangerous or hard-to-reach environments, eVTOL vehicles can help eliminate human risk in mining inspections, or deliver payloads of supplies and medicine in emergency response scenarios. AutoFlightX says it has several customers in the mining and inspection industries for its V40 Whiteshark platform, which can carry up to a 20 kg payload. AutoFlightX team also recently completed the maiden flight of a new platform with a 100 kg payload.

The company is currently developing a 1,000 kg platform, which it hopes will someday lead to air taxis, which could carry up to 4 passengers and deliver a range of 300 km.

“We believe AutoFlightX’s innovations reflect a combination of the best consumer drone talent from China paired with the aviation engineering rigor of Germany,” says Nicolas Sauvage, Managing Director of TDK Ventures.

Source: TDK Ventures