Indian air taxi maker on expansion mode, scouts for investors to raise ₹200 crore

It’s expansion time for the Guntur based Magnumwings, the next generation electric air mobility company which came up with six prototypes for humans, cargo and defence. The nine-year-old startup is now looking at raising capital to aid its expansion and mass production of aircraft.

Magnumwings’ founder and Managing Director Abhiram Chava, a U.S. returned aerospace professional, feels the time is ripe enough to take the company to next level.

In an exclusive interaction with The Hindu at his manufacturing facility in Guntur, close to Visakhapatnam-Chennai highway, Mr. Abhiram said: “We are currently operating in three separate facilities but now planning to shift to a single facility of 40,000 sft to place all our software and hardware wings together. We are looking at about Rs 200 crore investment in a couple of months to take the expansion forward. So far, we financed the firm through personal sources and we are now looking at Angel Investors and private equity players.”

The company is planning the expansion either in Guntur or at the proposed 264-acre Andhra Pradesh Aerospace & Defence Electronics Park (AP-ADE Park) that offers plug and play infrastructure in Palasamudram, Anantapur district, about one hour to Bengaluru International Airport. “The support from both Central and State governments is very good in terms of regulatory approvals and land offer for expansion. All that we need is capital to take the initiative forward,” Mr. Abhiram said.

At present, the models are stated to be undergoing the 10,000 hour mandatory testing. Approvals related to material and manufacturing process from Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) are under way.

The software, AI interventions and hardware used in the aircraft are completely made inhouse, except for motors and propellers, according to the company which has about 60 employees at present.

Mr. Abhiram, who has completed his Masters in Robotics from University of Utah in the US, was always clear about his goal of pursuing the niche space in air mobility and could bring his passion to one step away from final workable models in the market.

It was given to understand that the company aims to release the cargo mobility vehicles, which have wide applications by 2028 followed by passenger air taxis a year later.