A company are celebrating securing $10m investment for their space-age flying car. Tomasz Patan, Jetson co-founder and Jetson ONE inventor, took a flight in the £80k ($92k) vehicle at their new headquarters to mark the news. The research and development hub in Arezzo, Tuscany, features an 800 metre airstrip for flight testing. In announcement Thursday (8 Sep), Jetson said they are set to close a $10m seed round, with +$8m secured and the remainder to be finalised within the month. Jetson claim to be the only electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) company on the market that can provide a commercially available personal electric aviation vehicle. The Jetson ONE is powered by eight electric motors, has a flight time of 20 minutes, and can reach a top speed of 102kph (63mph). It is constructed of a race car inspired lightweight aluminium space frame and Carbon-Kevlar composite body. Running on a high discharge lithium-ion battery, the vehicle can carry a pilot’s weight of 210 pounds (100kg). The firm explain: "The demand for the Jetson ONE has been phenomenal, supporting the company's dream to ‘make everyone a pilot’." Jetson has sold over 400 units, with thousands of purchase requests during the same period. Jetson say they will continue to invest in R&D, recruitment and mass production and will be opening operations in the US in 2023. Jetson’s first external investor Swedish Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Rikard Steiber will drive the US expansion plans. Peter Ternström, Jetson co-founder and President commented: “Our mission at Jetson is to democratise flight and make the skies available to everyone. We achieved fantastic results during our first investment round. We will now go full speed ahead with mass production, R&D and hiring top talent to bring our vision to reality.” The lead investors in the $10M seed round have been named as global tech operators Luca Spada, Nik Robinson and Rikard Steiber. They all share a passion for flight and are pioneers in their respective fields. Luca Spada, Founder and CEO of EOLO will be joining the Board of Directors together with the founders. EOLO is an Italian operator that manages one of the largest Fixed Wireless Access Networks in the World. Luca Spada, Eolo CEO and Founder said: “Flying has always been one of mankind’s greatest dreams. The technology that is developing with drones will open up scenarios of exciting epochal changes in people’s transport. Tomasz and Peter had a brilliant vision with Jetson and I am fully convinced that the Jetson ONE will be the forerunner of a new generation of both recreational and business vehicles.” This month also sees the opening of Jetson's new R&D and limited production facility in Arezzo, Tuscany. The private airfield south of Florence combines an industrial facility and an 800-metre airstrip described as "perfect for daily flight testing". The airport will also be home to a client experience centre and pilot school. Jetson will be inviting clients with an assigned chassis number to test fly the Jetson ONE in the Spring of 2023. The first 200 chassis are due for delivery between October and December 2023. Jetson say they are currently on target for 2023 delivery and working on the next steps towards mass production.
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