China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely) is set to acquire a minority stake in German flying taxi startup Volocopter, according to local reports in China.
It will join Daimler which invested US$30m in the company back in 2017.
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Geely also plans to set up a separate joint venture with Volocopter in China to bring the flying taxi service to its home market.
Geely's chairman Li Shufu said his company continues to transition "from being an automotive manufacturer to a mobility technology group".
His company led a round of investment that raised EUR50m (US$56m) to help fund the development and commercialisation of Volocopter's VoloCity 18-rotor electric aircraft. The aim now is to be ready to launch air taxi services within three years.
Geely is expected to take a 10% stake in Volocopter, but a much larger stake in the Chinese joint venture.
Li said the investment "underlines our confidence in Volocopter air taxis as the next ambitious step in our wider expansion in both electrification and new mobility services".
The new investment will bring total funds raised by Volocopter to EUR85m and the company is expected to hold further discussions with investors to raise additional funds by the end of the year.
Volocopter said additional funds would be needed to gain commercial certification for the VoloCity from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
CEO Florian Reuter said "urban mobility needs to evolve in the next few years to meet rising demand. This new round of funding can help the company make great strides toward bringing airborne cars to market".
