“…Airnova, a vertiport company headquartered in Bordeaux, France, has launched a €3 million (US$3.2 million) fundraising campaign to develop what could be the first vertiport network connecting all the main cities in France. The company’s founder has already invested €500,000 (US$527,000) into the project, and is currently discussing additional fundraising with angel investors and investment firms.
The company aims to build 15 to 20 new vertiports per year starting in 2023.
“In 2020, Airnova [created] a unique [vertiport] design that was later approved for the French territory in April 2022 by INPI, the French institute for intellectual property rights,” said Laurent Mathiolon, CEO and founder of Airnova. “An extension to the rest of Europe is currently under approval.”
With a background in civil engineering, Mathiolon has been leading construction, real estate and land development projects for over 35 years through his other company Aqprim.
Airnova’s vertiports are designed for multimodal operations, including cargo and last mile delivery, passenger transportation, and civil safety operations, such as firefighting and air ambulance.