The ePlane Company, an electric aircraft startup based in Chennai, is raising $50 million from venture capital and strategic investors as it moves closer to certifying its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air ambulances in India.
Founded by IIT Madras professor Satya Chakravarthy, the startup develops electric aircraft designed to operate in dense urban environments. It is among the first startups backed by the government’s Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) fund, receiving approximately ₹285 crore as optionally convertible debt, the largest allocation under the country’s deep-tech initiative.
The company expects to close the funding round within 4 months and has already secured around ₹82 crore. To date, it has raised approximately $21 million.
Speaking to a publication, Chakravarthy said the company has completed the assembly of the full-scale prototype of its e200X eVTOL aircraft and has entered the physical testing phase before flight testing.
“We expect to complete our second certification-conforming prototype by December, which will undergo its own series of tests, including unmanned flight tests, to ensure it is safe enough for a human pilot to take control from the pilot seat. Air ambulance certification flight testing is expected to run through 2027 and early 2028, targeting air ambulance operations thereafter,” he said.
The new funding will primarily support certification of the air ambulance variant. The company has already signed expressions of interest and MoUs with charter operators and air ambulance providers, which it expects to convert into pre-orders in the coming months.
Designed with a footprint of approximately 8 x 10 metres, the aircraft can operate from existing helipads and compact urban locations. The company is also working with developers on vertiports and charging infrastructure while focusing on reducing operating and maintenance costs by around 80% compared to conventional aircraft.
The ePlane Company aims to price its aircraft at about 80% of the acquisition cost of a conventional air ambulance, making emergency air transport more accessible. It is also pursuing international certifications alongside India’s DGCA approval process.
Operating from a 60,000 sq. ft. facility at the IIT Madras campus in Thaiyur, the company plans to manufacture 80 aircraft by 2028 before expanding further. Future plans include launching air taxis and cargo aircraft based on the same platform. The e200X, designed and assembled entirely in-house, was also featured during Jensen Huang’s Taipei keynote for its use of Nvidia technologies, including chipsets, edge processors, and the Omniverse platform for digital twin-based testing.
The company became the 1st Indian private firm to receive DGCA acceptance for type certification under the country’s new eVTOL regulations introduced in September 2024.
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