Company Hopes To Succeed With New Fundraising Round

Something of the darling of AirVenture at Oshkosh this year, the founders of Lisa Airplanes, which is developing the Akoya Amphibious Ski Plane LSA, decided to place the company into receivership on July 30th "in order to protect its future." The company says the situation has no impact on its clients’ deposits, as all of them are under a bank warranty. A 6-month phase of observation has been granted by the Commercial Court of Chambery.

Lisa Airplanes was founded in 2004 with the stated ambition to design and market a revolutionary aircraft that would spark new interest in recreational aviation. To reach this goal, Lisa Airplanes was financed from 2005 with up to 80% private funds, including business angels, startup funds, and investment funds.
 
In July, Lisa Airplanes was finalizing a fundraising round tied to the commercial development of the company. The terms of negotiation anticipated a progressive and long term financing. As selected investors were not able to fulfill their commitments, and the historical shareholders could not secure Lisa Airplanes’ financial plan, the company made the decision to place it in receivership.

During this period of transition, the team says it supports the managers to ensure a fast resumption development of the airplane. They say the great response of the American market during the first presentation of the Akoya at Oshkosh, and the airplane’s performance as confirmed by more than a year of flight testing with of the first prototype aircraft, create investment opportunities during the observation phase.

With the coming financing plan, Lisa Airplanes and its partners say they are confident they will be able to launch the Akoya worldwide, though no date for entry into service was mentioned.

(Image provided by Lisa Airplanes)

FMI: www.lisa-airplanes.com