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Research

(1/8) Kicking Off Our Deep Dive into AAM's 2024 Landscape

Welcome back to our exploration of the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) sector as we move into 2024.

You might recall our introduction of the AAM Radar, our newly developed research tool designed to analyze the industry's readiness for commercial operations.

This framework allows us to thoroughly examine the AAM sector, focusing on the critical dimensions that need to be addressed for the successful commercialization of air taxis.
Importantly, our radar doesn't just focus on electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft but also includes electric short take-off and landing (eSTOL) and electric conventional take-off and landing (eCTOL) aircraft, covering a wide range of technologies promising to revolutionize urban and regional air mobility.

In this series, we will dive deep into eight pivotal dimensions essential for the success of AAM operations.

Today, we're zooming in on the first dimension: the technological backbone of the AAM sector.

In simple words, we're diving deep into R&D progress, scrutinizing how far technology has evolved, especially when drawing comparisons with past years.

In the following, we present an executive summary of our key findings.

For more insights, please refer to the complete analysis here.

Read in Full

Patent Filings: A Barometer of AAM Innovation

In our journey to dissect the current technological landscape of Advanced Air Mobility, we embraced a familiar yet potent analytical approach: the study of patents, similar to our 2023 patent analysis of the airline industry.

This approach is supported by numerous scientific studies highlighting patents as a reliable barometer for gauging the intensity and direction of technological innovation within any field, especially those with a hardware focus.

Recognizing their importance, we delved into the patent filings of all major AAM contenders, drawing on our history of employing data-driven research methods to surface trends and insights.

A Sign of Exponential AAM Innovation

Delving into the patent filings within the Advanced Air Mobility sector reveals an intriguing narrative of innovation and ambition.

Over the last 14 years, the AAM industry has mostly shown a steady and linear increase in patent activity.
However, in the past two years, the sector has gone through a remarkable surge.
In 2023 alone, the industry hit a milestone with an unprecedented 760 patent filings, setting a new record.

This massive surge in patent filings serves as a strong indicator of the AAM sector's accelerated phase of innovation, unlike anything we've observed previously.

This development is not just noteworthy; it's a sign of promise, aligning with our assessment that the industry is currently gaining momentum at an unparalleled pace.

Unpacking the Geographical Innovation Hubs

The recent explosion in patent filings across the AAM sector leads to intriguing geographical trends that spotlight the regions driving the most innovation.

The data since 2022 underscores a significant concentration of innovation efforts.

As the chart illustrates, the United States accounted for an overwhelming majority of patent filings.

In 2022, 60% of all AAM patents originated from the U.S., a figure that impressively climbed to 71% by 2023.
This increase not only emphasizes the U.S.'s leading role but also its expanding influence in the AAM domain.

On the contrary, China, while holding the second spot in terms of patent filings, saw its share halve from 16% in 2022 to just 8% in 2023.

Europe, despite its rich aerospace heritage and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency's (EASA) encouraging regulatory framework, also saw a decline, contributing to only 7% of the total patents filed in 2023.

Given this, the current trajectory suggests that the most groundbreaking technological advancements and collaborative opportunities in AAM are likely to emerge from the U.S. going forward.

Three U.S. Companies Lead in AAM Patent Filings

The dominance of the United States in the AAM sector is further underscored when examining the companies that are most active in patent filings.

Leading the charge are the U.S.-based companies Joby Aviation, Wisk Aero, and Beta Air.

Together, they not only top the list of AAM entities with the highest number of patents filed over the last 15 years but have also shown remarkable activity in the last two years.

Notably, Beta Air has been particularly prolific in 2023, filing more patents than any other company within a single year.

The ranking reveals further interesting takeaways:

Traditional industrial giants like Honeywell are also actively engaging in AAM innovation alongside dedicated AAM firms. This diversity underscores the wide-reaching interest and potential impact of AAM across various sectors, including automotive and technology.
Lilium, ranking fifth and representing the forefront of European AAM innovation, significantly expanded its patent portfolio in 2023. This growth signals that European companies also possess the potential to develop substantial technological foundations in AAM.
The increasing accumulation of patents within the sector suggests rising barriers to entry for newcomers, potentially concentrating future innovation among current market leaders.

Especially the latter insight underscores the growing significance of strategic alliances within the AAM sector.

Emerging or smaller companies are likely to seek collaborations with established patent holders to leverage their essential technologies and avoid infringement issues.

A prime example of this dynamic is the legal and subsequent collaborative relationship between Archer and Wisk Aero, a company with deep ties to Boeing.

In 2021, Wisk sued Archer for patent infringement, highlighting the competitive nature of technology development in the AAM space.
However, by 2023, the two companies had not only settled their lawsuit but also agreed to collaborate on specific technological areas, such as autonomy.
This collaboration was further solidified by Boeing's decision to invest in Archer after having more or less taken over the ownership of Wisk.

Leading Innovation Areas in AAM

With a clearer picture of who the leading technology innovators are within the AAM sector, our attention now shifts towards the specific domains where these innovations are concentrated.

Analyzing the categorization of patents filed within the last two years sheds light on the technology areas most ripe for advancement in future air-taxis.

As the chart illustrates, the category known as "Power and Magic Movers," predominantly focused on propulsion and energy systems, leads not just in the volume of patent filings for both 2022 and 2023 but also showcases the most significant uptick in intellectual property (IP) activities.

The relentless pursuit of advancements in this area is driven by a fundamental industry mandate: without the development of electric propulsion technology that is not only efficient and quiet but also capable of achieving meaningful range, the vision of air taxis and their transformative impact on urban and regional connectivity simply cannot materialize.
Given that the range of most eVTOL prototypes currently falls short of supporting any realistic longer-distance connections, such as intercity flights, the surge in patent filings here signals a strong push toward extending flight capabilities. In other words, it is a direct response to this critical bottleneck.

Scoring the AAM Technology Dimension

Reflecting on the diverse facets of patent activity within the AAM sector, it's evident that the Technology Dimension has seen significant progress in 2024 compared to the previous year.

However, it's also apparent that certain critical areas may require further attention and development–read more in our full analysis.

Given these considerations, we score the Technology Dimension of the AAM sector as having made considerable progress but with room for further enhancements.

The technology race within AAM is far from concluded.

In one of our upcoming newsletter editions, we will delve into dimension #2, examining the current funding landscape.

Stay tuned for more.

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Most Recent Investment Deals

– VC –

Bob W - The German alternative accommodation platform raised $43.3M in a Series B led by Evli Growth Partnership, which will be used for tech development and European growth.

CitySwift - The Irish data-based transit scheduling platform raised $7.6M in a funding round led by Gresham House Ventures, with participation from ACT Venture Capital and others. The money will help accelerate platform development and fund its Customer Success team.

Cosmic Aerospace - The US- and Belgium-based electric aircraft developer raised $4.5M in seed funding to accelerate the development of its embedded wing design. With the full-scale electric engine already built, the company's focus is on airframe and propulsion systems design.

Explurger - The Indian AI-powered social media platform for travel raised $4.5M in a Series A round led by Affle. The funds will be used for growth and expansion.

Holdbar - The Danish experience management software raised $3.5M in a round led by Firstminute Capital and Steve Fredette. The money will accelerate platform development.

Ease My Vacations - The Indian OTA raised $3M in seed funding, which will be used to expand and enhance its services.

Nicer - The Puerto Rico-based travel planning and booking startup raised $2M in a pre-seed round led by Trip Ventures. The funds will be used to scale travel advisors with its technology.

The Digital Hotelier - The Dubai-based B2C software for booking and paying for hotel services raised $1M of seed funding from Plug and Play, Hope Funds, and angel investors. The money will fund growth and product line improvements.

Reveel - The Finnish startup, which helps turn paper maps into digital guidebooks, raised $650k in a pre-seed round led by Inventure VC.

Dtravel - The Cayman Islands-based peer-to-peer vacation rental ecosystem received a token investment of an undisclosed amount into TRVL from Borderless Capital, which will be used for growth.

– M&A –

Velocys - The UK-based SAF producer was acquired by Carbon Direct Capital Management, Lightrock, Kibo Capital Partners, and GenZero for $40M in a deal to save the company from insolvency, taking the public company private. The funds will accelerate tech development and scale production.

CMAC Group - The UK-based ground transport and accommodation company was acquired by ComfortDelGro Corporation as part of the latter's strategic expansion of its point-to-point mobility services. The terms of the deal were undisclosed.

Roam Around - The Miami-based AI itinerary generation platform was acquired by AI travel discovery and booking platform, Layla, for an undisclosed amount. The move is meant to strengthen Layla's tech and offerings, with the company hoping to be a leader in AI travel discovery.

Stardekk - The Belgian hotel distribution and channel management platform was acquired by UK-based hotel revenue management platform Lighthouse for an undisclosed sum. The combined platform will merge the latter's data and AI into Stardekk's distribution tool set.