Neom invests USD 175M in Urban Air Mobility Company Volocopter 

Neom, the smart and sustainable regional development project in northwest Saudi Arabia, has made a USD 175 million Series E investment in Volocopter, the pioneer of Urban Air Mobility. 

Neom will take a significant equity stake in the company as part of its strategic engagement with the global eVTOL industry. 

The latest investment will expand Neom’s strategic partnership with Volocopter to progress an advanced air mobility industry in Neom and Saudi Arabia. It builds on the Neom-Volocopter joint venture launched in December 2021, which will operate electric air taxi services in Neom to connect various regions including The Line, a linear, cognitive city that will redefine urban living; Oxagon, the home to advanced and clean industries at Neom, built half on land, half on sea; and Trojena, a year-round mountain destination, all three of which will run on 100% clean energy. 

Volocopter, headquartered in Bruchsal, is a leader in the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) industry, with over ten years of development experience and over 1500 flight tests completed. As the first and still the only manufacturer of electrically powered vertical take-off aircraft (eVTOL) to be certified as a development and manufacturing organization (DOA, POA) by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Volocopter is planning to open the first commercial air taxi routes in the coming years in cities like Singapore, Rome, Paris, in the Neom region and in China. 

Allen & Overy has advised Neom in the transaction. The Allen & Overy team was led by partner Alexander Veith (Corporate/M&A, Munich) and, from Germany, further comprised partner Udo Olgemoeller (Public Law, Frankfurt) as well as senior associates Tobias Hugo (Corporate/M&A, Munich), Catharina Glugla (Data Protection), Anna Kraeling (IP, both Dusseldorf) and Anna Jung (Public Law, Frankfurt) as well as associates Frank Weiss and Johannes Graßl (both Corporate/M&A, Munich) and Stephan Buehner (Public Law, Frankfurt). The team had support from Transaction Support Lawyer Oliver Ahnseel (Hamburg). In addition, partner Tom Butcher (pictured left) from Allen & Overy’s office in Abu Dhabi advised on the transaction, as did partner Zeid Qursha (pictured right) and associate Ruqaiya Ali from the firm’s Dubai office (all Corporate/M&A).