Beyond Aero, a France-based pioneer in hydrogen-propelled electric aviation, has secured an additional $20 million in a successful Series A funding round. Co-led by Giant Ventures and French Sovereign Fund Bpifrance, this round brings the company’s total capital raised to $44 million, inclusive of debt and grants.

Lead by CEO and co-founder Eloa Guillotin, Beyond Aero is developing a hydrogen-powered electric business aircraft. It has hit significant technical milestones in recent months, achieving France’s first manned fully hydrogen-electric flight earlier this year and appointing Luiz Oliveira, former advisor on Embraer’s hybrid hydrogen programme, as chief engineer. Beyond Aero has secured $914 million in letters of intent for 108 aircraft and earned multiple awards, including Brilliant Minds and the Sustainable Aviation Challenge by the World Economic Forum, joining the First Movers Coalition.

Giant Ventures, the leading purpose-driven fund, co-led the Series A round alongside Bpifrance through the Deeptech 2030 fund, which is managed on behalf of France 2030, a key supporter of Beyond Aero since its inception.

“Eloa Guillotin is the most visionary leader in aerospace today. Her bold ambition to reshape aviation with electric, hydrogen-powered aircraft aligns perfectly with our mission to back purpose-driven founders solving the world's biggest challenges,” says Jon Dishotsky, partner at Giant Ventures.

“We have formed a powerful alliance of investors from Europe and the US Giant Ventures offers invaluable guidance, a client network and a global perspective,” adds Guillotin. “Initialized Capital, having supported us since the seed round, brings founder experience in scaling industry leaders. Bpifrance represents the solid national commitment of the France 2030 plan to clean energy innovation. With prominent public figures who share our vision, we are making aviation electric and achieving our global ambitions.”

Other investors in this round include Initialized Capital, the fund behind 27 unicorns including Coinbase, Cruise and Instacart; Olympic champion Nikola Karabatić and World Cup winner Raphael Varane through the venture capital fund Teampact Ventures; as well as tech leaders like Nate Blecharczyk, co-founder of Airbnb, and Arash Ferdowsi, co-founder of Dropbox.

“We led Beyond Aero’s seed because we saw in Eloa both the determination and the skills to make hydrogen-powered business planes a reality, and there was no question that we would continue our support in its Series A,” states Brett Gibson, managing partner at Initialized. “In the short time since our initial investment, the team has achieved milestones that would take years for anyone building in this space; this team will transform aviation and have incredible impacts on this industry’s emissions.”

Beyond Aero has already begun deploying $12 million to build the world’s most powerful integrated hydrogen electric powertrain lab. This facility is designed to test all components of the hydrogen-electric propulsion system, from hydrogen tanks to fuel cells and electrical systems. The lab replicates One of the aircraft’s two powerplants and will push the technology to TRL6 at 600+ kW power. It will focus on hydrogen refuelling, air supply, fuel cells and integrated powertrain testing, marking a crucial milestone in advancing system design and safety verification.

Beyond Aero’s aircraft, One, is designed to carry six to eight passengers for 800nm and is expected to enter the market by 2030. Beyond Aero is redesigning the architecture of a CS23 aircraft from the ground up, optimising it for hydrogen-electric propulsion. It will be powered by fuel cells, producing water as a byproduct and achieving a range five times greater than a battery-powered aircraft. Early adopters include HNWIs, entrepreneurs, celebrities and athletes. Corporate clients such as airlines, charter operators and corporate flight departments have also shown strong interest, signalling the growing demand for hydrogen-powered electric aviation solutions.