The Future of Advanced Air Mobility

Crowdfunding Raises $2.5 Million for Doroni's H1 Personal eVTOL Aircraft

Doroni Aerospace completed a further round of crowdfunding on March 3, raising almost $2.5 million from more than 1,000 investors to support its plans to bring the two-seat H1 personal eVTOL to market. The Florida-based start-up closed the StartEngine.com campaign within days of releasing a video showing a full-scale technology demonstrator making a short tethered hover flight at its 13,000-sq-ft headquarters in Pompano Beach.

According to business development manager Yaakov Werdiger, Doroni’s engineering team will conduct further remotely piloted tethered flights after making minor adjustments to the all-electric vehicle. It aims to gradually transition toward untethered flights with a pilot on board and has already tested the yaw, pitch, and roll functions, as well as the integration of the propulsion system and autopilot.

“The current prototype [designated P1] resembles our final product,” Werdiger told FutureFlight. “The frame is currently going through a full redesign to reflect the level of safety that our customers expect and deserve from us. We are also making minor changes to our wings and ducts to allow a better and more efficient [aerodynamic] design.”

The P2 prototype will incorporate these changes. Doroni Aerospace co-founder and CEO Doron Merdinger told an investor’s briefing on February 28 that the company aims to have this prototype built by August. The P2 is expected to be slightly smaller than the P1 and will use a different type of battery.

Doroni plans to certify the H1 in the FAA’s light sport aircraft category, acknowledging that its requirements are less onerous than the Part 23-based rules being pursued by manufacturers of most eVTOL vehicles intended for commercial operations. According to Werdiger, it is taking “a progressive approach” to certification. “As systems are finalized, they are presented for individual certification approval,” he said. “Later, this will simplify the process when we combine everything as a whole.”

The company’s business model largely reflects the premise that H1 private owners will fly themselves after minimal training and with nothing more than a driver’s license in hand.

The H1, whose anticipated retail price is $195,000, is expected to have a range of up to 60 miles and cruise at 100 mph. It is powered by eight electric motors driving ducted fans.

Doroni is already accepting $10,000 deposits to secure early deliveries, which it expects to occur after certification before the end of 2024. The company says it has received over 230 requests for preorders and so far has banked 14 deposits.

The latest funding round closed with declared valuation for the company of $158.76 million. A previous crowdfunding exercise raised just over $1 million.