Vertical Aerospace’s senior executive compared the faltering stock market debut of its flying taxi startup to Tesla’s early days in public life.
Michael Cervenka (chief technology officer of the Bristol-based company) acknowledged that there had been a “real softening in market conditions”, with shares falling 80 percent from December 2021, when they began trading.
He maintained, however, that institutional investors believe they will need to be exposed to the electric vertical takeoff and landing sector.
Cervenka, 48 said that “at some point, you believe a fraction [of the future market forecast], this is a really large market.” He noted that investors had “missed Tesla” and said that “this is the next opportunity to electrify transport that could really be big.”
Vertical Aerospace was established by Stephen Fitzpatrick in 2016. He wanted to create small, battery-powered vertical take-off aircraft. It was listed in New York on 16 March 2016 via a merger with a “blank cheque” company. The deal valued Vertical Aerospace at $2.2 billion just before it went under. Its current value is approximately $450 million.
Elon Musk , 51 years old, was the leader of Tesla. After years in decline on the stock exchange, the company experienced an incredible rally as the global auto sector shifted towards electrification and increased production. Before its stock price plunged sharply in 2013, it became the first automaker to exceed $1 trillion.
Cervenka stated that Vertical is pushing for certification by global regulators. This suggests that the public’s perception of the electric vertical takeoff and landing market has changed from being skeptical to being open to the possibility. It is now widely recognized as a result of technological advances.
He said that institutional investors were playing a “waiting game” with their investments. They believe there may be consolidation, but they also think that we will see clear and demonstrable progress over the next 12 month for those who are on the right path versus those who aren’t.
Vertical’s cash reserves of £122.8 million as of December 31 were “well into next year,” Cervenka stated. The company expects “some good opportunities to raise funds later this year”.
He suggested the possibility of more partnerships similar to those it has with backers Honeywell, Rolls-Royce and Microsoft. Cervenka believes that potential customers will follow the example of American Airlines which made pre-delivery payments last July for 50 of Vertical’s aircraft to guarantee priority orders.
He stated, “Absolutely we will be looking at raising further money.” “We don’t need to do this in the next few weeks, or even a month. It would be quite difficult.