Ascendence Flight Technologies, a Toulouse-based startup dedicated to sustainable aviation, has secured US$21 million in investments. The funding will provide Ascendence with the resources to fly its full-scale prototype, begin certification and scale-up actions for its first aircraft and help its clients and partners to reduce aircraft emissions with the startup’s hybrid technology.
The funding round saw significant reinvestments from Habert Dassault Finance, Céleste Management, IRDI and M-Capital, as well as contributions from new investors, including French Tech Souveraineté, CELAD, Expansion Aerospace Ventures, SC Mahé, Adrien Montfort via Snaw Ventures and ARIS Occitanie.
“We are very proud to have brought together these renowned financial partners,” said Jean-Christophe Lambert, co-founder and CEO of Ascendence Flight Technologies, “whose quality and complementary nature will ensure that they can support the company through its upcoming development stages.”
The startup, founded in 2018, has chosen hybrid-electric propulsion as its approach to sustainable aviation, believing it to be applicable to multiple long-range uses in passenger transport, medical logistics and surveillance applications.
Over the coming years, the startup will focus on two priority development areas: building its first flight-capable full-scale prototype of its ATEA aircraft, a VTOL aircraft for regional point-to-point aviation, as well as continuing its EASA certification process and fulfilling its first contracts and partnership agreements to integrate STERNA, its patented modular hybrid propulsion system, into existing aircraft.
“This fundraising round is critical for sustainable aviation in France,” added Lambert. “It is a logical step forward in our roadmap for the industry’s energy transition. It will accelerate the technical and commercial development of our products while also contributing to our central aim: to build a sustainable model for cleaner air mobility.”
Image: ATEA – Ascendence Flight Technologies
