Skyfly says a $10 million seed round will fund light-sport work on the Axe

Skyfly Technologies said on October 20, 2026, datelined Thorpe Mandeville, UK, that it had closed a $10 million seed round led by HICO Investment Group, with participation from Archangel. Skyfly's release calls Archangel a defence-technology fund. Urban Air Mobility News reported the same round and the same lead investor. The opening of an Aviation Week article, the only part that loaded without a subscription, says the round was led by Singapore-based HICO. Skyfly's release does not say where HICO is based. The rest of the Aviation Week article was not available, so it is not used below.

What Skyfly says the money is for

Skyfly says the funding will complete FAA light-sport certification of the two-seat electric Axe under the MOSAIC rules, which Skyfly says came into force in July 2026, and will scale production in the UK and the United States. First customer deliveries are planned for 2027. That year is a target. Skyfly describes the round as taking the Axe from a flying prototype to a certified production aircraft. Certification is not reported as complete. A light-sport path is not described as a type certificate.

Aviation Week's opening says the funding is planned to take the Axe through FAA Part 22 approval as a light-sport aircraft. Skyfly's own release does not use the words "Part 22." This page does not treat those two descriptions as the same document, and it does not treat either one as an issued certificate. The certification basis is not established here.

Skyfly also says the round accelerates a hybrid propulsion system and the Longbow, which it describes as a hybrid-electric uncrewed variant for defence and government customers, with a company-stated range of more than 400 miles and a 200 kg payload. Skyfly says it has been enrolled on the UK Ministry of Defence heavy-lift challenge. Urban Air Mobility News reported those Longbow points as the company's. Longbow is not a second aircraft on the tracker.

Flights, permits and the order book

Skyfly says its prototype has flown more than 100 times, that it completed what Skyfly calls Europe's first airfield-to-airfield eVTOL flight, and that it holds experimental flight permits in the UK and the United States. Skyfly says a U.S. flight-test team has been flying since 2025. Urban Air Mobility News attributes the flight count, the airfield-to-airfield claim and the permits to the company. Experimental flight permits are not type certificates. The release does not give the dates the permits were issued.

Skyfly says 61 private customers are on its order book, with first deliveries planned for 2027. The release does not say whether those 61 are firm orders, reservations or deposits, and it does not state a price. Urban Air Mobility News's report does not repeat the customer count.

Figures Skyfly projects

Skyfly says the Axe has a projected running cost of around £70 ($90) per flying hour, a range of more than 100 miles, a flight time of 60 to 90 minutes, a cruise of 100 mph and a 200 kg payload, and that it needs no runway. Skyfly says it hovers on eight fixed-angle electric motors and then cruises on the wing, with no tilting motors. Urban Air Mobility News reports the cost, range, endurance, speed and payload as what the company says. These are company figures. They are not independently verified on this page. The photograph is from the high-resolution press kit linked in Skyfly's release. The file name refers to a June 2025 flight at Bicester. It shows the flying prototype.

What is not established

No light-sport certificate is reported as issued. No type certificate is reported. The certification basis is not settled on this page: Skyfly says MOSAIC light-sport rules, and Aviation Week's opening says Part 22. The 2027 delivery timing is a target. The firmness of the 61 customers is not stated. A price is not stated in the release. The performance numbers are the company's.

Sources

Facts as reported by the linked sources as of Nov 11, 2026. Company targets are plans, not guarantees. Corrections: see About.