Electric aircraft developer Bye Aerospace announced on Monday that it has completed a $5 million strategic investment by an unnamed venture capital group and a $5 million venture raise. According to the company, the investments, which were finalized earlier this year, allowed Bye to begin work on the first production-conforming prototype of its all-electric eFlyer 2 aircraft. Bye is pursing Part 23 type certification for its two-seat eFlyer 2 and four-seat eFlyer 4.
“Since raising the $10 million we have completed critical design review in early June and are now underway with multiple test flights of the eFlyer 2 technology demonstrator,” said Bye Aerospace CEO George Bye. “Next, we will be solidifying our supply chain relationships to begin assembly on Serial #001, the first production-conforming eFlyer 2 aircraft.”
Bye also secured a “major” investment from the SUBARU-SBI Innovation Fund in late 2018, the exact amount of which was not made public. Designed as a trainer, the eFlyer 2 is expected to have an endurance of three hours, top speed of 135 knots and 450-pound payload. The aircraft flew for the first time in April 2018.
