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Sarla Aviation launched a year ago with a pitch built for India’s congested roads. The electric air taxi startup, named after India’s first woman pilot, Sarala Thukralshould focus on aircraft that can carry more weight – even if it means shorter ranges.
“In India, a shorter range is great, as long as you can offer it at an attractive price point. And that’s what we’re trying to achieve with this higher load,” said Adrian Schmidt, co-founder and CEO of Sarla Aviation, in an interview.
It’s a pitch that has landed with investors. The startup said Tuesday it raised $10 million in a new funding round led by Accel. The all-equity Series A1 round included angel investors such as Binny Bansal (co-founder of Flipkart), Nikhil Kamath (co-founder of Zerodha) and Sriharsha Majety (co-founder of Swiggy). The startup previously raised a seed round of about $1.7 million led by Accel and included participation from angels, including Tata Motors CTO Rajendra Petkar.
Sarla Aviation plans to use the funds to build an R&D center in Bengaluru, scale its team three to four times larger than its current 30, and create new prototypes to get better data and validate.
Unlike most flying taxi concepts that have a capacity of two to four passengers, the Bengaluru-based startup is looking at a vehicle that carries six passengers and a pilot that weighs up to 680 kilograms (1,500 pounds). Increasing the payload reduces the range to 160 kilometers (99 miles) per battery charge. In contrast, a typical flying taxi concept offers a range between 120 and 160 miles.
Schmidt, a German national, co-founded Sarla Aviation in January 2024 with partner Rakesh Gaonkar and software engineer Shivam Chauhan after spending more than a couple of years at Lilium. The Munich-based outfit has been building an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) regional aircraft for more than a decade, but after raising more than $1 billion and going public, closed its operations last year just to be resurrected shortly after by a consortium of investors. Schmidt also initially worked at automotive companies including Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen before joining Lilium in 2020.
In mid-2023, Schmidt and Gaonkar left Germany and came to Bangalore to establish Sarla Aviation after seeing India as a potential market for their flying taxi business. Chauhan, who had returned to India after spending time in the United States, joined them, and the trio incorporated beginning in January 2024.
Schmidt told TechCrunch that India’s geopolitical position, which he believes will “play a big role in changing the power dynamics,” convinced him to start his venture in the country.
The one-year-old startup is all set to unveil its first air taxi prototype, called Shunya (zero in Hindi), at an industry event in New Delhi on January 17. The company will begin testing prototypes later this year and plans to launch its business. first commercial air taxi sometime in 2028.
Schmidt said Sarla Aviation will start its commercial operations for airport transfers in Bengaluru, one of the world’s most congested cities, and gradually expand to Mumbai, Delhi and Pune. It is also expected to launch a free air ambulance service parallel to commercial marketing services in its first phase.
Sarla Aviation’s air taxi ticket would be priced similar to the first line of an Uber or Ola taxi, which will come down to the rate Indian drivers typically pay for an auto-rickshaw over time, the executive said.
The startup relies on a third-party supply chain for the production of its prototypes. Schmidt, however, told TechCrunch that he aims to have 80% of his supply chain fully indigenous by the time commercial operations begin.
Sarla Aviation competes with well-financed Archer Aviationwhich partnered with InterGlobe Enterprises in 2023, and in the planewhich raised $14 million in November at a $46 million valuation. Both aim to launch flying taxis in India next year.
