- Plum Ventures leads multi-million yuan round as Hangzhou startup pushes full-scale prototype and airworthiness certification
- Company’s QT2000 targets urban air mobility, intercity transport, tourism and emergency response markets
Skydragon Aerotech (蜻蜓翼行), a Hangzhou-based eVTOL startup, has raised several tens of millions of yuan in a pre-Series A round led exclusively by Plum Ventures, the company said.
With the proceeds Skydragon aims to expand its R&D team, advance prototype development and secure airworthiness certification.
Founded in August 2024, the startup focuses on full tiltrotor eVTOL aircraft, a technically demanding design offering high cruise efficiency, extended range and greater payload than multicopter or compound-wing alternatives.
Strong ties to Beihang
Skydragon is led by a team with deep ties to China’s aerospace sector and Beihang University, a major source of talent for China’s aviation and aerospace sectors.
Founder and chief executive Tao Guoquan, an associate professor at the university, has worked on the design, manufacturing and flight testing of multiple tiltrotor aircraft programs.
Meanwhile, chief technology officer Hu Long holds a doctorate in aircraft design and brings two decades of aviation R&D experience.
The team traces its work on tiltrotor technology back to 2010, giving it more than 16 years of experience in the field.
Before its founding, Skydragon completed full test flights of a scaled tiltrotor prototype. Since then, it has rolled out its full-size, full-weight flight demonstrator and conducted its first flight.
Benchmarked against Joby Aviation’s S4, its QT2000 model carries one pilot and four passengers, with a pure-electric version cruising at 240 km/h for 200 km and a range-extended variant capable of 350 km/h and 1,000 km.
The company has received more than 250 indicative orders for urban air mobility, intercity connections, sightseeing and emergency response operations.
Airworthiness testing by 2026
Skydragon plans to complete tilt transitions of its full-size prototype and continue airworthiness testing by the end of 2026.
“Low-altitude economy is becoming a key new production force,” said Lin Jiani, managing director at Plum Ventures. “The tiltrotor design combines speed, range and efficiency, with high technical barriers and long-term commercial value. The Skydragon team has deep academic roots and strong engineering execution.”
Previous investors Puhua Capital and Vertex Ventures China commended the company’s rapid prototyping and flight progress.
Earliest pioneers
Puhua partner Wu Xiaofeng noted Skydragon is the earliest domestic team to focus on full tiltrotor development, with solid technical and engineering capabilities.
For its part, Vertex Ventures China credited the startup as “the fastest-moving new force in eVTOL R&D globally.”
Skydragon has joined two other major tiltrotor players in China, including Geely-backed Aerofugia (沃飞长空) and TCab Tech (时的科技), positioning itself in a high-barrier segment of the emerging eVTOL market.
