Hydrogen-electric aircraft developer ZeroAvia has closed a funding round co-led by Airbus, Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital, and Neom, according to a statement. Returning investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Horizons Ventures, Alaska Airlines, Ecosystem Integrity Fund, Summa Equity, AP Ventures, and Amazon Climate Pledge Fund. No financial details about the funding round were disclosed in the statement.

Where's the money going? The funds will allow ZeroAvia to expedite the certification of its first engine — the ZA600 — and advance work on its larger 2-5.4 MW modular powertrain engine program the ZA2000 which is designed to support larger commercial aircraft applications, the statement notes. Airbus and ZeroAvia will also collaborate on certification approaches for hydrogen power systems, working on some critical technical areas including liquid hydrogen fuel storage, flight and ground testing of fuel cell propulsion systems, and the development of hydrogen refueling infrastructure and operations.

Why is this important? ZeroAvia is pursuing hydrogen-electric propulsion systems as the most economical and eco-friendly solution to the impact of aviation fuel on climate change, the statement notes. Their hydrogen-electric engines use hydrogen in fuel cells to generate electricity, which is then used to power electric motors to turn the aircraft’s propellers, with water being the only byproduct during flight. Airbus is doing the same with its fuel cell systems which are an important part of its ZEROe aircraft concepts program, designed to deliver low-emission airframes of different sizes.

Big aviation backing: ZeroAvia drummed up USD 21.4 mn from investors like Shell and Amazon in a 2020 funding round and later secured USD 24.3 mn from British Airways, Shell Ventures, and Systemiq in April 2021. The company raised USD 115 mn in funding by the end of 2021, and secured a total of USD 150 mn in its Series B round in August 2022 from investors including American Airlines and United.

ZeroAvia also has regional links: The company signed an agreement with Masdar to explore hydrogen production and supply projects for aircrafts and paved the way for refueling its zero-emission aircrafts at commercial airports by 2030, with plans for the first hydrogen-fueled commercial flight by 2025. While the agreement initially targets North America and Europe for clean flight operations, they plan to later expand their operations in the UAE.