Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Company Vessel Aero Pursues 20 Billion KRW Series A Funding

Hope for 150 Billion KRW Company Valuation
Series B or IPO Planned Next Year or the Year After

Conceptual Diagram of VESSEL Aerospace's Manned and Unmanned Vertical Take-Off and Landing Aircraft Operation for Urban Air Mobility (UAM)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Jeong-su] Vessel Aerospace, a company developing unmanned aerial vehicles and urban air mobility (UAM) systems, is planning its first external funding (Series A) worth 20 billion KRW.

Vessel, a KOSDAQ-listed company, announced on the 27th that its subsidiary Vessel Aerospace is currently conducting the first round of funding and hopes for a post-investment valuation of approximately 150 billion KRW. A company representative explained, "Joby Aviation, which recently successfully listed on NASDAQ, was valued at around 500 billion KRW at listing and is now trading with a market capitalization in the trillion KRW range. Vessel Aerospace's aircraft design capabilities and autonomous flight development level exceed that."

Vessel Aerospace is engaged in unmanned aerial vehicles and UAM business based on its experience developing Korea's first ultralight aircraft, the ‘KLA-100’. Its parent company, Vessel, has previously developed aircraft certification within China scheduled for this year and a medium-sized unmanned vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (MVUS, Maritime Vessel UAV System) project for the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

Vessel Aerospace has been spun off from Vessel for less than two years. However, since the Vessel aviation division days, it has undertaken significant government projects and internal development such as designing and developing the KLA-100, developing manned/unmanned vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (OPPAV), and developing autonomous flight operation systems for drones and other unmanned vehicles.

With the funds raised from the first round of funding, Vessel Aerospace plans to enhance the completeness of ongoing government projects and extend this technical maturity to the development of various manned/unmanned aircraft and autonomous flight and operation systems. Given the currently weak domestic foundation in light aviation and drone industries, there are many challenges to overcome before advancing to UAM.

A Vessel representative stated, "Going forward, Vessel Aerospace plans to begin full-scale production and sales of light aircraft in China, successfully develop medium-sized unmanned vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, and then pursue Series B investment or an initial public offering (IPO) with a corporate valuation of approximately 500 billion KRW. The timing could be from the end of next year to the first half of the year after next."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.