Support from JetBlue and Boeing's venture funds gave Zunum Aero instant credibility for its ambitious plans to build a hybrid electric passenger plane. Now those key backers have backed away and the startup is gasping for cash.
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The founders have been telling ex-employees that they will settle up with creditors, restart operations and make good on overdue wages as soon as they clinch new funding. A link to a solicitation to investors now tops Zunum’s website — it’s looking for $50 million in Series B funding. Such a large injection has been elusive over the last year, however.
Unlike the scores of startups that are trying to build urban “air taxis,” small electric aircraft that take off and land vertically, Kumar and Knapp aimed for something that seemed simultaneously both more ambitious and more sensible. Their plan was to build a standard winged airframe outfitted with a cutting-edge propulsion system: two big ducted fans driven by electric motors paired with a gas turbine to recharge the batteries, giving its aircraft greater range than a pure electric.
A deal never happened. Kumar was aggressive on the terms he was offering investors, according to two employees and the head of an investment fund that looked Zunum over. “Ashish wanted valuations for the company that were way beyond what most investors were willing to invest in,” says the investment manager, who asked to remain anonymous.
A spokesperson for United Technologies said that if anyone from the company held talks with Zunum, it didn’t rise to the level of senior executives. A Safran representative declined comment on deal talks. Kumar and Knapp began to tighten belts. They told staff they’d only pay bills from key suppliers, according to two former employees. They also hit up senior staff for loans, Saban says.
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Zunum Aero Nears Zero: Founders Struggle To Raise Money After Laying Off StaffSupport from JetBlue and Boeing's venture funds gave Zunum Aero instant credibility for its ambitious plans to build a hybrid electric passenger plane. Now those key backers have backed away and the startup is gasping for cash.
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