Ambit represented Czech startup Zuri.com SE in negotiating a venture capital investment of over CZK 15 million from Czech investment group Pale Fire Capital.
Zuri was developing a prototype unmanned passenger aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing technology. Funding from Pale Fire Capital was intended to expand its development capabilities and support the completion and testing of the prototype.
Zuri and vertical takeoff aircraft development
Michal Illich founded Zuri in 2017. The company was working on an aircraft using vertical takeoff and landing technology, known as VTOL. Its concept at the time combined design elements of airplanes and rotorcraft and called for eight electric rotors.
Development began with scale models. According to the company’s history, the team tested flight characteristics on a model with a two-meter wingspan in May 2018. Using readily available model aircraft components allowed for lower-cost experimentation and quick modifications.
Funding to complete and test the prototype
Pale Fire Capital announced the investment on October 22, 2018. The financing took the form of a convertible loan. CzechCrunch reported on the investment that same day.
The funding was intended primarily to expand development capabilities to complete and test the prototype. At the time, Zuri also planned to develop battery modules in-house and accelerate work on control systems and equipment for vertical takeoff and landing.
The demonstrator first lifted off in 2021
In September 2021, Zuri unveiled a technology demonstrator with an 11-meter wingspan. During ground tests, the team checked how the systems worked together, along with propulsion unit performance, power supply, and controls.
On September 15, 2021, the demonstrator’s first hover test followed at an airfield near Zbraslavice. The aircraft lifted off the ground, allowing the team to measure parameters that could not be obtained during the earlier ground tests.
