Nordic investors fund Acodyne cargo aircraft venture

A group of Nordic investors has made a pre-seed investment in Danish start-up Acodyne.

According to Stockholm-based Gungnir Capital, the investor group has committed two and a half million euro to the company, which is developing an unmanned electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) cargo aircraft for heavy-payload missions.

The investor group comprises PSV Hafnium, SAP9 Group and GreenUP IV Invest, with participation from Denmark's export and investment fund EIFO, Gungnir said in a LinkedIn post.

- Acodyne is building something genuinely new: an autonomous, all-electric aircraft that combines vertical take-off and landing with high-speed fixed-wing flight and is capable of carrying payloads of up to 450 kg, the company said.

The company said the platform could create a new category of heavy-lift logistics for defence, offshore and remote operations, where speed is critical and crewed helicopters remain the primary rapid-response option.

Acodyne said its proprietary ducted-fan system and fixed-wing design will enable the E200 aircraft to carry payloads of 200 kg at speeds of up to 450 km/h, allowing supplies to be delivered up to ten times faster than by land transport and at significantly lower cost than helicopters.

- This is exactly the kind of capability Europe and NATO need right now, Gungnir Capital said. 

- We invest in defence and dual-use technologies that strengthen European resilience, and Acodyne fits that thesis precisely.