“To be specific: If we get a no on Wednesday, we will not be able to keep the company in its current form in Germany,” said Daniel Wiegand (39), co-founder of Lilium, in an article in today’s BILD newspaper. “This means that this future technology will either move abroad – or go bankrupt….It’s about Germany’s technological leadership in electric flying. That would benefit everyone.”
The company is waiting for a decision by the federal government on a loan of EUR 50 million. If agreed, state of Bavaria will also support the company with a EUR 50 million loan. But according to news reports, the government coalition is split over the decision, with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Social Demoncratic Party SPD), the Greens and Transport Minister Volker Wissing (Free Democratic Party, FDP) understood to be in favour of the loan while some members of the FDP are understood to be against.
According to an article in Sifted, over 650 founders and investors have come out in support of a federal guarantee for the eVTOL startup, having signed an initiative called “Enable loans for Lilium, strengthen Germany as a deep tech location”.
For more information
https://sifted.eu/articles/german-startup-founders-call-for-govt-support-lilium
https://www.bild.de/geld/wirtschaft/start-up-lilium-entscheidung-ueber-50-millionen-euro-staatshilfe-670d304eb3637d7cb5b6b980
(Daniel Wiegan – image)