A year after the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft industry saw its first start-up valued at more than $1B (see "The First Electric VTOL Unicorn: Joby Aviation," Vertiflite, March/April 2020), a growing number of companies across the advanced air mobility (AAM) industry are looking to merge with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) that is already publicly traded to raise the funds necessary to bankroll future growth. Since late 2020, at least a half dozen companies active in the AAM sector have been rumoured or have announced that they intend to complete a business combination with a SPAC. The eVTOL companies that secured significant investments prior to the COVID-19 pandemic found themselves in a relatively good position when funding became tighter for start-up companies of every sort. Most of these companies successfully raised capital through seed, Series A, Series B and Series C funding rounds with external investors who were offered equity or part ownership in the company (see "Financing the Electric VTOL Revolution," Vertiflite, July/August 2020).
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