Flying taxi company Sarla Aviation has bagged $10 million in Series A1 funding led by Accel.
The round also saw participation from angel investors including Binny Bansal, Nikhil Kamath, Sriharsha Majety and Abhiraj Singh Bhal (Urban Company), Abhishek Goyal (Tracxn), Ramakant Sharma (LivSpace), Sujeet Kumar (Udaan), Manish Agarwal (Kratos) and Sandeep Nailwal (Polygon).
Sarla Aviation will use the funds to accelerate its mission of transforming transportation in India by offering affordable, efficient, and sustainable air mobility solutions.
“Our flying taxis are not just about enabling instant and affordable air mobility—they represent a bold step toward unlocking India’s true economic potential and solving for critical bottlenecks to our productivity like traffic congestion and pollution,” said Adrian Schmidt, Co-Founder and CEO of Sarla Aviation.
“With the support of our investors, we are accelerating the development of our technology, expanding our team and establishing a state-of-the-art R&D center. Our first priority is to build a mass mobility system that serves and enables India like cars once transformed and enabled the United States,” he added.
Schmidt also said that the company plans to launch a free-of-cost air ambulance service, to address the urgent need for rapid medical response.
The company plans to launch its first flying taxi prototype on January 17, 2025, at Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025, in New Delhi. It aims for a market launch by 2028.
Sarla Aviation was founded by Schmidt, Rakesh Gaonkar, and Shivam Chauhan in 2024. The company said that its hybrid-lift-and-cruise eVTOL offers the highest payload in the market, capable of carrying up to 680 kg—allowing 35% more passengers per flight at 4X lower ticket prices compared to Western competitors.
“Their emphasis on cost economics and reliability could make them a blueprint for other rapidly urbanizing regions worldwide,” said Pratik Agarwal, Principal at Accel.
