Electric aircraft startup The ePlane Company is looking to raise around $40-50 million through a round that combines equity, convertible instruments and proposed government-backed research, development and innovation (RDI) support, multiple people aware of the matter told ET.
Deeptech investor Speciale Invest is in discussions to co-lead the private round, along with other investors, they added.
The Chennai-based startup, incubated in IIT Madras, has already secured board approval for a $15-20 million convertible tranche that it aims to close next month.
This will be followed by a growth capital infusion, the final size of which will depend on the outcome of its application for the Rs 1 lakh crore RDI Fund, sources said.
The RDI Fund, launched in November last year, has only seen partial activation, with first level fund managers securing about Rs 300 crore till date.
The fundraising comes as the company prepares to unveil a full-scale prototype of its electric aircraft this year.
Speciale Invest managing partner Vishesh Rajaram confirmed that the fund is co-leading ePlane’s current fundraise.
“The structure of this fundraise is thoughtful. Combining equity instruments with a potential RDI Fund application is consistent with how frontier deeptech companies in India are increasingly approaching capital formation,” he said in an email response to ET.
The venture fund did not respond to queries on the specific amount being raised through different instruments. Rajaram, however, said, “RDI component, if approved, would be complementary to the private raise and would not gate our investment decision; we evaluate the company on its own merits.”
One of the sources cited above said, “The RDI Fund is a totally new thing. It’s a specific funding strategy, and the company has to see how long it will take and how much it will fetch.”
ePlane last raised $14 million in November 2024 in a round co-led by Speciale Invest and Antares Ventures, with participation from Micelio Mobility, Naval Ravikant, Java Capital and Samarthya Investment Advisors, among others. According to Tracxn, that round valued the company at about $34.2 million.
The company is building separate models of its e200x electric air taxis for ground and flight testing. Last week, it also announced plans to build virtual versions of the aircraft using Nvidia Omniverse libraries. It intends to create a digital twin of its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to engineer and simulate complex aerodynamic interactions before real-world deployment.
Certification will follow a phased process involving aircraft-level approvals and subsequent safety validation through flight trials, particularly for passenger operations.
The startup led by IIT Madras professor Satya Chakravarthy plans to commercialise in stages, beginning with air ambulance and cargo services before expanding into passenger transport, subject to regulatory clearances.
According to industry insiders, India’s nascent eVTOL market is expected to significantly change urban mobility by enabling aircrafts that can take off and land vertically, offering commuters a way to bypass traffic snarls, particularly in emergency situations. However, the cost economics of such travel modes remain untested in the Indian market.
Archer Aviation, Sarla Aviation, BluJ Aerospace and JetSetGo are also vying for a share of this emerging market.
Early last year, Sarla Aviation said it raised $10 million in a funding round led by Accel. Several entrepreneurs, including Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal, Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath and Swiggy’s Sriharsha Majety, also backed the company.
California-based Archer Innovation, which has partnered with InterGlobe Enterprises, the parent of IndiGo, had earlier announced plans to launch commercial operations in India in 2026.
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