The UK-based technology conglomerate SRAM & MRAM Technologies and Resources Limited has invested Rs 300 crore ($37 million) in Bumble Bee Flights, a start-up that has created and developed India’s first autonomous Air Mobility Solution capable of human transportation with multiple use case scenarios.
The funds will be used by the Bengaluru-based startup, which was established in early 2022 by serial entrepreneur and expert in Air Mobility Solutions Arjun Das, to establish an assembly plant in Odisha for the production of the air taxis that can be used for logistics, leisure, or even defence applications.
By April 2023, the business hopes to release the first prototype. By 2024, Bee Flights, a brand owned by Bumble Bee Flights, will be producing certified and producible air taxis.
Additionally, compared to helicopters that weigh up to 1000 kg or more, Bee Flights’ air taxis would be powered by solar-charged interchangeable batteries and would weigh only 300 kg.
In contrast to helicopters, which require specific helipads, it can carry one person and one bag and can land on the rooftops of buildings if there is enough room. These flying taxis can go 20 kilometres in 20 minutes.
“eVTOL aircrafts (electric vertical take-off and landing) are the future of urban transportation and mobility. In addition to relieving the strain on already overburdened urban road infrastructure, these autonomous air taxis will also reduce carbon footprints, according to Das.
He went on to say, “We are like the Boeing or Airbus for Air Mobility Solutions,” pointing out that Bee1 is the first Indian air taxi to receive certification in multiple nations and that it will be used for a variety of tasks, such as human transportation, air ambulance, air taxi, and in the logistics and supply chain sectors.
The money was given to the startup at the recently finished Make In Odisha Conclave 2022. According to Das, this is also a step toward putting India and Odisha on the world map for air mobility solutions.
According to him, ordering an air taxi would be as simple as ordering a taxi through Ola or Uber.
Urban air mobility, or UAM, is expected to rise 30% yearly between 2021 and 2040, reaching $1.5 trillion by that time, according to Morgan Stanley.
Prasanta Patnaik