Blade completes series B financing and joins with Airbus

New York broker platform Fly Blade Inc has completed its round of series B financing, raising around $38 million from Californian real estate and investment management company Colony NorthStar and New York seed stage venture capital funds Lerer Hippeau, LionTree Ventures and Airbus Helicopters. Blade will use the proceeds from the financing to expand the schedule for its core routes, accelerate the roll-out of new markets and to continue to fortify its brand.

Concurrent with the financing, the company has entered an alliance with Airbus Helicopters to provide customer and helicopter operator technology solutions and on-the-ground customer experience manage-ment for the Airbus Ride helicopter service in Dallas, Texas. Airbus Ride has operated for two years and will be co-branded with Blade, and the companies will jointly explore launching an intra-city helicopter service in a to-be-determined international market. The partnership sets a foundation for the possible future deployment of electronic vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) systems, paving the way for enhanced urban air mobility.

CEO Rob Wiesenthal says: "Together, we will grow on-demand helicopter aviation by broadening consumer accessibility today, and facilitating the transition to eVTOL tomorrow."