Overview
Lilium tried to make regional flying accessible with a battery-powered aircraft that could take off vertically. Its engineering program produced flying demonstrators and attracted established suppliers. The business ran out of financing before it could turn those achievements into a certified passenger service. An attempted rescue also stopped in February 2025.[1][2]
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The later sale preserved selected intellectual property. Archer’s October 2025 filing disclosed an €18 million agreement for selected patent assets. Its November release confirmed the acquisition of approximately 300 patent assets had closed. That transaction did not establish a restart of Lilium’s aircraft program.[16][3]
Founding Story
Daniel Wiegand, Sebastian Born, Matthias Meiner and Patrick Nathen founded Lilium in 2015 after studying at the Technical University of Munich. TUM’s startup advisory service and the Climate-KIC Accelerator at UnternehmerTUM supported the team.[4]
Wiegand’s interest began with model aircraft and gliding. TUM’s 2019 profile traced the idea for an electric vertical-takeoff aircraft to his 2013 exchange semester in Glasgow. Born and Meiner interrupted doctoral work to join the venture. Wiegand described his practical education this way: “I still draw most from the experiences of actually building something.”[5]
The initial ambition extended beyond selling an aircraft. The founders wanted ordinary travelers to gain access to fast regional trips. That aspiration created a demanding combination of aircraft development, affordability, infrastructure and service availability.
Timeline
- 2015: The four founders established Lilium.[4]
- 2020: TUM reported a $240 million funding announcement followed by a $35 million extension, with cumulative investment then exceeding $375 million.[4]
- September 2021: Qell shareholders approved the proposed public-market combination. Its announcement gave an implied $3.3 billion pro forma equity value at the $10 private-investment share price and approximately $584 million in transaction proceeds.[6]
- 2022–2023: Phoenix demonstrators performed transition and cruise testing. These were development aircraft, distinct from the aircraft intended for customer delivery.[1]
- November 2023: Lilium eAircraft received EASA design-organization approval.[7]
- July 2024: Lilium announced a binding sales agreement with Saudia Group for 50 aircraft, plus options for another 50.[8]
- October 28, 2024: Lilium GmbH and Lilium eAircraft GmbH filed for insolvency under German law.[9]
- December 2024–February 2025: A conditional asset agreement with Mobile Uplift preceded a failed rescue. Lilium Aerospace announced a new insolvency filing and a stop to operations on February 21.[10][2]
- November 2025: Archer reported the patent acquisition closed. EASA records the design approval surrendered on November 18.[3][7]
What They Built
Lilium used electric motors and ducted fans to provide vertical lift, then wing-borne cruise. The company’s July 2023 filing described Phoenix 2 reaching 250 kilometers per hour during testing and Phoenix 3 joining the test campaign. It separately described intended performance targets for the future customer aircraft. Demonstrator speed did not establish certified range, passenger payload or commercial operating cost.[1]
DENSO and Honeywell’s May 2022 announcement described an electric motor under joint development for Lilium. They identified a roughly four-kilogram rotor-and-stator assembly targeting 100 kilowatts, with integration into the aircraft engines still ahead. Supplier participation supported development; it did not amount to certification of the complete aircraft.[11]
Design-organization approval recognized an engineering organization’s capabilities. It was a separate milestone from approval of an aircraft type for commercial use. Lilium’s annual filing still described type certification as a prerequisite for commercial operations.[12]
Market Position
Target Customers
The sales effort reached airline groups and private-aircraft buyers. Saudia supplied a specific airline commitment, although the 50 options were distinct from the 50 contracted aircraft. Neither quantity represented delivered aircraft or completed passenger trips.[8]
Market Size
Lilium’s annual filing acknowledged that the proposed regional electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) service market did not yet exist. Its opportunity depended on future adoption, approvals and operating infrastructure. There was no established Lilium passenger market from which to measure realized share.[12]
Competition
The company competed for capital and future customers with other electric-aircraft programs, while travelers already had cars, rail and conventional aviation. Its own filing recognized these alternatives. A complete trip would need to justify its price after access time, infrastructure and aircraft operations.[12]
Business Model
The commercial model evolved toward aircraft sales and supporting services. Customer deposits could depend on development milestones. The annual filing reported no revenue in 2022 or 2023; its €47,000 of 2021 revenue came from infrastructure and mobility consulting. It also reported a €270.7 million operating loss for 2023. These figures describe different activities and accounting measures.[12]
The public-market transaction provided financing against future commercialization. In September 2021, Wiegand called the shareholder vote a step toward “our planned commercial launch in 2024.” The same announcement disclosed that 65% of Qell shareholders redeemed their shares. Its equity valuation was a transaction measure, while proceeds were cash expected from that transaction; neither measured future operating profit.[6]
Outcome and evolution
The financing gap became decisive in 2024. A November filing said Germany’s parliamentary budget committee would not approve a contemplated €50 million guarantee for a €100 million KfW convertible loan. A separate Bavarian guarantee had also failed to reach agreement. The operating subsidiaries entered insolvency, and the listed parent reported that further financing was no longer feasible.[9]
The December rescue announcement concerned operating assets of the subsidiaries. Closing remained conditional; the release said sale proceeds would not be distributed to Lilium N.V. By February, Lilium Aerospace said expected funding had not arrived in time and operations would stop. A signed rescue agreement had therefore failed to secure continuity.[10][2]
The insolvency administrator’s October 2025 announcement identified Lilium GmbH as the owner of the patent portfolio. It also said sales of remaining assets would continue. Archer’s subsequent closing announcement covered roughly 300 patent assets in areas including ducted fans, flight controls and high-voltage systems. The €18 million price disclosed in Archer’s October filing[16] cannot be compared with the earlier equity valuation as an investor-return calculation: the transactions covered different assets, entities and obligations.[13][3]
The evidence establishes failure to finance continued development. It does not establish that every technical ambition was impossible, or isolate the cost of each design decision. The complete program never supplied the commercial performance evidence needed to settle those questions.
Key Lessons
- Fund the path between milestones. A successful demonstrator still leaves aircraft approval, production and service launch to finance.
- Track cash separately from commitments. An order, a conditional deposit and cash available for payroll have different operating consequences.
- Name the approval precisely. Approval of a design organization does not grant a passenger aircraft permission to enter commercial service.
- Define what survives a sale. Patents can retain value even when the original organization cannot continue. A patent purchase alone does not preserve jobs, aircraft deliveries or shareholder value.