The funding round was led by Entrée Capital, with participation from long-time investor Dr. Shmuel Harlap, an early backer of Mobileye.
The company fulfilled its first commercial order in 2023 and now plans to deliver 15 autonomous cargo eVTOLs in the coming year, while managing over 2,500 pre-orders for its piloted two-seater, the AIR ONE.
“This funding solidifies AIR’s path forward,” said CEO and co-founder Rani Plaut, emphasizing the startup’s lean operations and growing revenues. “With Entrée’s backing, we’ll bring our advanced air mobility solutions to market faster than ever.”
The capital will help AIR expand production at its newly launched 32,000-square-foot facility in central Israel, which will serve as a model for a future U.S.-based manufacturing site.
The expansion aligns with growing U.S. interest in eVTOLs, driven by recent policy shifts that favor rapid commercialization of the sector.
AIR’s funding announcement comes on the heels of an Executive Order signed by President Donald Trump on June 6, which directs federal agencies to fast-track the commercialization of eVTOLs and drones.
The order explicitly names eVTOLs as an “emerging technology” critical to modernizing cargo delivery, passenger transport, and national competitiveness. For AIR, this momentum provides the ideal backdrop for its U.S. strategy.
AIR’s aircraft lineup includes both uncrewed cargo drones and the AIR ONE, a piloted eVTOL designed for personal transportation. Both models share a unified platform with a folding wing design, allowing them to fit into a standard parking space—an innovation that enhances practicality in urban and suburban settings.
The uncrewed model is engineered for logistics and defense scenarios, offering a 550-pound payload, 70 cubic feet of cargo space, and a range of 100 miles at speeds of up to 120 knots. With intuitive ground handling and fast load times, it targets sectors like disaster response, remote access operations, and contested logistics.
Meanwhile, the AIR ONE focuses on general aviation and personal mobility, promising a new level of accessibility, safety, and comfort. By leveraging a shared design architecture, AIR says it can deploy cross-platform software and hardware upgrades, streamlining maintenance and reducing costs.
“We’ve tracked AIR from its founding to full flight operations across commercial, consumer, and defense,” said Avi Eyal, Managing Partner at Entrée Capital. “This is an engineering marvel—cost-efficient, low-maintenance, and far ahead of any rival.”
AIR has already conducted BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) autonomous flights with its cargo model and is actively participating in the evolving certification ecosystem.
The company expects the AIR ONE to be among the first eVTOLs certified under the FAA’s updated Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) standards.
As the race to operationalize eVTOLs intensifies, AIR’s next phase involves replicating its Israeli success in the U.S.
