Undisclosed · Seed · Space · Bern, Switzerland
Bern-based Milan Aircraft has closed an undisclosed Seed round backed by business angels connected to SICTIC and Aare Ventures, alongside other private investors, according to Dealroom News and Tech.eu Funding Explorer. Dealroom reports that the capital will finance a complete prototype of the aircraft's electric powertrain, including the battery, control and power electronics, and motor.
Milan is developing the MA-2, a clean-sheet, four-seat battery-electric aircraft aimed at flight schools. The company says the design targets about 2.5 hours of endurance, enough to cover a typical private-pilot training programme, rather than adapting an airframe originally designed around a combustion engine.
Flight training narrows the battery problem
Pilot training is built around repeated short flights, take-offs and landings. That operating pattern gives Milan a narrower commercial problem than electric passenger transport: the aircraft does not need intercity-airliner range, but it must stay in the air long enough for useful lessons, recharge predictably and fit the economics of a flight-school fleet.
Milan says the MA-2 is designed for more than 400 kilometres of range, a take-off run under 350 metres and fast charging in under an hour. Startupnews reports that the intended business model is dry leasing to flight schools. If those targets survive full-scale testing, leasing could turn lower energy and maintenance requirements into a monthly operating proposition rather than asking schools to absorb the entire purchase cost upfront. The figures remain design targets; the full-size aircraft has not yet flown.
The round funds a prototype, not a finished aircraft
The immediate milestone is the powertrain. Dealroom says Milan is developing the airframe in parallel and plans to begin building a flying prototype in 2027. Aerospace Innovations reported in April that a 1:7 scale demonstrator had flown, while the propulsion-system prototype was scheduled for testing in 2026 and the first flight of the full-size aircraft was planned for 2028.
That sequence matters because certification, manufacturing and battery performance remain separate risks. Dealroom reports that Milan has held a pre-application meeting with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, but full approval is still ahead. The Seed round therefore buys evidence: an integrated powertrain can test whether the motor, battery, controls and cooling work together before the company commits more capital to a certifiable aircraft. A later round is planned to finance the build, making this prototype a technical milestone and a fundraising prerequisite.
Sources checked:
Dealroom News · Milan Aircraft · Aerospace Innovations · Startupnews · Tech.eu Funding Explorer
