U.S., U.K. Venture Investors Helping Move The Airplane To
Market
ICON Aircraft announced that it closed a $25 million round of
equity funding in June. The round will fund the company through the
completion of its ongoing engineering development program,
manufacturing setup, and the beginning of production of its A5
amphibious sport plane.
The financing was led by U.S. and U.K. venture investors Satyen
Patel and Bart Becht, who have deep expertise in building consumer
product companies. Other participating investors in the round
included Eric Schmidt (chairman of Google), Phil Condit (former
chairman/CEO of Boeing), and several top Silicon Valley venture
capitalists. ICON will receive $15 million initially, with an
option for an additional $10 million.
"We are honored to have the confidence, support, and enthusiasm
of such great investors," said Kirk Hawkins, ICON Aircraft's CEO
and founder. "That we were able to successfully raise funds in this
time of economic uncertainty demonstrates ICON's unique and
compelling market appeal. Not only does ICON have an extraordinary
aircraft and an all-star team, but the consumer response to the A5
has been overwhelming, as confirmed by an order backlog of nearly
500 aircraft ($85 million)."
Bart Brecht
In conjunction with this financing, ICON is also proud to
announce the addition of two new members to ICON's board of
directors: Satyen Patel and Bart Becht. Patel, the former head of
NIKE in Asia, brings an exceptional track record in building
world-class consumer product brands. Becht is one of the U.K.'s top
business leaders and is the CEO of the U.K. consumer products
giant, Reckitt Benckiser.
Flight testing of the A5 is continuing at an aggressive pace and
is focused on finalizing the company's newly designed
spin-resistant wing, as well as refining directional stability.
Flight testing is scheduled to conclude in the coming months. ICON
continues to expand its engineering and manufacturing team to
support the completion of the development program in 2011, as well
as the transition to production in 2012. ICON has revised its
production start date to the fourth quarter of 2012.
"The unprecedented disruptions in the capital markets during the
past two years have challenged every aircraft company out there,
and ICON is no exception. While these difficulties have delayed our
production start, we're excited that those challenges are behind us
now and that we're funded through production. There is a lot of
work and some risk still ahead, but ICON continues its
uncompromising commitment to safety and excellence. We remain laser
focused on delivering our customers the coolest sport plane on the
planet," said Hawkins.