VÆRIDION lands €124.5 million to electrify Europe's regional skies

Munich-based aviation startup VÆRIDION has secured €124.5 million in combined backing: a €30 million Series A2 equity round plus selection for a €94.5 million grant from the European Commission's Innovation Fund.

The equity round was co-led by Dutch investors SHIFT Invest and Invest-NL, with participation from existing backers World Fund, Project A and Vsquared Ventures. PAYBACK founder and DeepTech investor Alexander Rittweger also joined. Excluding the EU grant, VÆRIDION has now raised roughly €60 million to date.

The €94.5 million grant supports the CAROLUS project, which will build and scale a final assembly facility at Oberpfaffenhofen Airport near Munich. VÆRIDION beat 358 applications to become one of just 12 large-scale projects selected — the only German company and the only aviation project in that category. The grant still depends on an agreement expected to close in 2027.

What does the money actually fund?

Two distinct workstreams. The €30 million equity round finances VÆRIDION's first certification-conforming aircraft and further propulsion testing. The EU grant funds industrial production capacity.

Founder and CEO Ivor van Dartel, a former Airbus manager, said: "Over the past year, we have turned the Microliner from a validated design into hardware, with exceptional capital efficiency. Our propulsion and battery technology is now being tested at our own facility in Oberpfaffenhofen. This equity round enables us to build our first conforming aircraft. The Commission's selection of CAROLUS supports the next step: establishing the industrial capability for Microliner production."

He added: "Building out of Europe, our mission is to make regional flying commercially viable and accessible again, in Europe and for operators worldwide."

What is the Microliner?

The flagship aircraft pairs a glider-inspired wing with patented modular battery technology and a multi-engine propulsion system driving a single propeller. It's being developed in both passenger and cargo configurations.

The performance targets are specific:

• Nine passengers over approximately 400 kilometres under Instrument Flight Rules
• Up to 550 kilometres carrying four passengers under Visual Flight Rules
• Operating costs below €0.40 per seat-kilometre

At that cost level, VÆRIDION believes operators could price tickets comparably to first-class travel on Germany's ICE high-speed trains. The broader aim: restore regional connections, including smaller German cities and airfields that commercial airlines no longer serve profitably.

Who's buying?

The company reports customer commitments for more than 130 aircraft, representing a potential value exceeding €730 million. Its launch customer is Belgium-based ASL Group, with the first Microliner delivery targeted for 2030.

Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Munich, VÆRIDION has engineering activities in Munich and Delft, with production planned in Bavaria. It plans to expand its European team as it moves toward flight testing, certification and industrial production.

In March 2026, the company opened its production and testing facility at Oberpfaffenhofen Airport and has since powered on its electric engine for the first time. Notably, the facility was acquired following the insolvency of fellow German electric aviation startup Lilium.

Next up: integrating battery packs and the propulsion system into a ground-testing platform known as a "copper bird." Combined with wind-tunnel testing, that work supports the first certification-conforming prototype, targeted for late 2027 or early 2028.

What did the investors say?

Daria Saharova, Managing Partner at World Fund — which led VÆRIDION's €14 million Series A in December 2024 — said: "For the past half century, Airbus has shown that Europe can build aircraft the world buys. VÆRIDION is writing the next chapter with a fully electric aircraft, built in Bavaria, with a clear path to certification. Investing in the future of aviation is Europe's power play, and I am proud to back Ivor and the team."

Thijs Gitmans, General Partner at SHIFT Invest, added: "Regional aviation is one of the clearest cases where electrification makes both environmental and commercial sense. VÆRIDION has chosen a certification pathway regulators already understand and has delivered real hardware on a disciplined budget. We are proud to lead this round and to back a European champion in electric flight with European funding."

How does the round fit Europe's 2026 funding wave?

VÆRIDION's announcement lands amid a run of European aerospace financing in 2026:

• France's AURA AERO raised a €50 million Series B for electric and hybrid-electric aircraft programmes
• HyLight (France) raised €13 million for hydrogen-powered autonomous airships
• UK's Greenjets secured €35 million for aerospace propulsion technology, with NATO backing
• UK's Skyfly raised €8.91 million for its two-seat Axe eVTOL and Longbow defence variant
• Denmark's Acodyne secured €2.5 million for unmanned cargo aircraft
• Germany's SPREAD AI raised €25 million for industrial engineering software used in aerospace and other sectors

Together with VÆRIDION's €30 million equity round, these deals represent roughly €164.4 million in financing — before counting the €94.5 million EU grant.

With a conforming prototype due by late 2027 or early 2028 and first deliveries pegged for 2030, VÆRIDION now faces its tightest test: converting a €730 million order book and a Bavarian assembly site into a certified electric aircraft.