Electra, a US company developing an ultra-short takeoff and landing (STOL) hybrid passenger aircraft, has raised $115 million in a Series B funding round.
The round was led by Prysm Capital, a growth equity firm, which joins other prominent early investors in Electra, including Lockheed Martin Ventures, Honeywell, Safran, the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) and Statkraft Ventures, the venture capital arm of Norwegian energy firm of the same name.
As part of the deal, Jay Park, Prysm Capital’s Co-Founder and Managing Partner, will also join Electra’s board of directors.
The announcement came just weeks after Electra announced it had already secured orders for 2,200 EL9 aircraft, a portfolio valued at around $9 billion.
The Virginia-based startup markets the EL9 as a sound and feasible future alternative to decentralize regional travel with a low operating cost, low-emissions and quiet aircraft which can land at a large number of locations due to its STOL capabilities. The EL9 will be able to land and takeoff on runways as short as 150 ft (45.7 meters) carrying up to nine passengers onboard.
