Crash in slow motion: Lilium is history - US company takes over the remains

Image: Aerospace Trek / shutterstock.com

Billion-euro vision becomes an insolvency sale

Once celebrated as the German flagship for the future of mobility, the air cab start-up Lilium is now finally history. As the Handelsblatt reported on 15.10.25, the patents of the Pfaffenhofen-based company will not end up with a German rescuer, but with US air cab rival Archer Aviation. After two failed takeover attempts and years of fighting for survival, the insolvency administrator is now taking over the final chapter.

The Lilium idea sounded like the future: an electric aircraft with a vertical take-off function that could carry up to six passengers 400 kilometers - cleanly, quietly and elegantly above the traffic jam. Investors around the world were enthusiastic and poured 1.5 billion euros into the project. In the end, what remained were empty coffers, disappointed employees and a large pile of patent documents.

First came the vision, then the failure

Founded in 2015, Lilium quickly enjoyed media success and raised spectacular amounts of investment. The start-up was even listed on the NASDAQ technology exchange. There were major orders from Saudi Arabia, future plans for military drones and repeated announcements of imminent series production.

But what was missing was a finished product. The aircraft never made it into mass production, and a real regular operation never materialized. New rounds of financing were supposed to plug the hole - but by the fall of 2024 at the latest, it was clear that the money was gone. Wages were no longer paid and almost 1,000 employees were left out in the cold. The first insolvency followed, the second just a few months later.

The last attempt: too little, too late

Several investors had tried to take over the company. Particularly ambitious: The German industrial holding AAMG, which even wanted to further develop Lilium for military applications. However, the 250 million euros that were supposedly available for this were never proven.

A consortium led by Slovakian entrepreneur Marian Bocek also promised 200 million euros - but here too: Lots of talk, little substance. In the end, it was Archer Aviation that won the bidding competition - for around 18 million euros. No comparison to the billions that had previously been spent.

Patents instead of passengers: What Archer gets now

What remains of Lilium? Around 300 patents - from high-voltage and battery technologies to flight control systems and shrouded propeller designs. It is precisely this technology that Archer Aviation, itself active in the development of electric short-haul aircraft, now wants to use. While Lilium dreamed of 400-kilometer flights, Archer prefers to concentrate on 30 to 80 kilometers - less vision, more reality.

Archer is already testing prototypes in Salinas, California, and seems to be doing what Lilium ultimately failed to do: less talking, more flying.

Unfortunately a familiar pattern

What happened here is a textbook example of German start-up tragedies: great ideas, even greater expectations - and then it fails due to a lack of funding, focus and realism. Lilium was a castle in the air with investor power but no market maturity. The fact that a US competitor of all companies has now been awarded the patents for a fraction of the investment is not only bitter, but also a wake-up call.

If you only fly when the next investment comes along, you will land hard at some point. Lilium has shown the way.