“Given Colony’s strong real estate expertise, as well as its Los Angeles headquarters location, we look forward to working with the Blade team on expanding their West Coast presence as well as helping to identify future landing zones for both helicopters and next-generation eVTOL aircraft,” noted Colony NorthStar managing director Justin Chang.Īdditionally, Blade has revealed details of an alliance with Airbus’ helicopter arm, meaning Blade will provide its technology for the Airbus Ride helicopter service in Dallas, which will now be cobranded as a Blade service. And this demand will encroach into more locations where real estate is at a prime, which is where L.A-based Colony NorthStar will serve its purpose.Ībove: Blade waiting lounge in New York City So why would a real estate firm invest in a company that focuses on getting people from JFK Airport to Manhattan in five minutes? Well, it’s a strategic investment that’s betting that the demand for urban landing pads - and airport-style waiting lounges - will grow. This takes the company’s total funding to $44 million since its inception in 2014. With that in mind, Blade has announced a $38 million tranche of funding from some notable investors, including real estate giant Colony NorthStar, Airbus Helicopters, Lerer Hippeau, and LionTree Ventures. In a world that’s seemingly moving toward urban-focused electronic vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft such as flying taxis, such transport will play a more integral part in Blade’s offering in the future. The company also has a partnership with Delta, meaning passengers can disembark from their plane straight onto a waiting helicopter. It works on 22 routes in 7 states, and Blade promises to transform a typical two-hour drive from Manhattan to JFK into a five-minute flight. And that is where New York-based Blade is looking to invest.īlade doesn’t manufacture or buy its own aircraft - it works with third parties and serves as a platform for booking short-distance aviation vehicles, such as on-demand charter flights involving jets, seaplanes, and helicopters. Flying cars or air taxis may not need roads for the most part, but they do need somewhere to take off from and land. ![]() This might be huge with vaccine around the corner.Ĭorrection: Chamath is not involved per his Twitter comment.While the technology is pretty much ready to make this happen, one major stumbling block - aside from safety regulation - is infrastructure. The capital raised will enable the Company to expand new urban air mobility routes, its network of captive passenger infrastructure, as well as its consumer-to-cockpit technology stack, accelerating its transition from use of conventional aircraft to Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing ("eVTOL") aircraft Palihapitiya’s involvement is notable, given that he typically runs his own SPACs as the sponsor backing the deal. They’re joined in the deal by the venture investor Chamath Palihapitiya, the media mogul David Geffen, HG Vora Capital and KSL. Blade’s investors reflect the sort of clientele it attracts, including IAC’s Barry Diller, iHeartMedia’s Robert Pittman and Discovery’s David Zaslav. military and Airbus, a Blade investor, among those developing prototypes.Īn elite investor base. The nascent technology is still working toward regulatory approval, with the U.S. ![]() Some of the proceeds in the merger will go toward its adoption of electric aircraft. SPACs have bet big on electric vehicles this year, looking to catch a winner in the shift to a low-carbon economy. During the pandemic, Blade has added other perks, including on-site Covid testing before check-in.Ī flying E.V. (The 40-minute flight from Manhattan to East Hampton currently runs $795 per seat.) Blade has since expanded into other modes of transit, like seaplanes and private jet flights from Westchester to Aspen, Miami and further afield. ![]() Blade was founded in 2014 by Rob Wiesenthal, the former Warner Music and Sony exec, catering to wealthy Manhattanites seeking a quicker way to get to the Hamptons, Nantucket and other popular summer destinations. An upscale way to get from here to there.
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