Lilium
eVTOLGermany
New to Unitard
💀 Dead / Bankrupt
Peak $3.3 BillionToday
~-98%
from peak
- 🦄Became a unicorn2021
- 📈Peak valuation$3.3 Billion ’21
- 💔Became a Unitard~Oct 2024
- 💸Last valuationWiped out
🔥 Raised & burned
$1.2B
Total raised
$354K/day
Burned · 9.3y alive
Funding: TechCrunch
Current status
Insolvency 2024-25
The rise & fall
7 moments · 2015–2025The key moments, with employee sentiment along the way.
2015
2015
Founded near Munich
Daniel Wiegand and three TU Munich co-founders set out to build an all-electric vertical-takeoff jet.
TechCrunch
2019
2019
The five-seat Lilium Jet flies
Prototype hover flights fuel the dream of an electric air taxi network.
TechCrunch
Sep 2021
Sep 2021
The peak: a $3.3B Nasdaq debut via SPAC$3.3B
The Qell merger takes it public; unicorn status and the all-time high arrive on the same day.
Tech.eu
2022–24
2022–24
Burning cash at altitude
The jet never leaves the prototype stage; roughly $1.2B raised is consumed faster than new money can be found.
TechCrunch
2022–24
From the inside · Glassdoor reviews, 2022–24
Insiders saw it coming: Glassdoor reviews warned as early as 2022 that the company was spending its way toward collapse, and later ones flagged erratic finances, a revolving door of inexperienced managers, and leadership that kept reassuring staff while downplaying the cash crisis right up to insolvency.
Oct 2024
Oct 2024
Insolvency — joins the Unitard Club 💔
Its operating subsidiaries file for insolvency after the last funding hopes fall through; the jet remains uncertified.
Tech.eu
2025
2025
The rescue collapses
A buyer's attempt to revive the company falls apart and the wind-down becomes final, wiping out nearly all of the peak value (~-98%).
Tech.eu
$3.23Bof peak value erased · 9 years
💬 entries paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor ↗; dated facts carry their source.
How it happened
Lilium was a German developer of an all-electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) jet, reaching a valuation of roughly $3.3B when it went public via a SPAC merger with Qell in 2021. It burned cash developing its aircraft while struggling to raise more funding; its subsidiaries filed for insolvency in 2024, and after a rescue attempt collapsed it wound down in 2024-25, wiping out nearly all its value.
Source: Tech.eu; SPAC via Qell
Where they went
- Klaus Roewelast CEOLeadership Companion at COCOMIN AG
- Daniel Wiegandco-founder & CEO (TU Munich; the idea started with a V-22 Osprey video)Co-Founder at Stealth
- Sebastian Bornco-founder (TU Munich engineering postgraduate)Co-Founder / Chief Operating Officer at Stealth Startup (Deep Tech)
- Matthias Meinerco-founder (mechatronics engineer)Not on record
- Patrick Nathenco-founder (aerodynamics)Co-Founder at Stealth Startup (Deep Tech)
Current roles as self-reported on LinkedIn, retrieved 2026-08-21. See our methodology.
