Auro Aero, based in Toulouse, France, announced today it has closed on a critical 50 million euro ($58.5 million) of equity funding to add to its overall financial support of 340 million euro ($370 million) during a press conference streamed from its headquarters. Cofounder and President Jérémy Caussade led the overview of the financial plan, which will support three production streams: training-focused single-engine airplanes, commercially focused regional aircraft, and dual-purpose UAVs. Two of those are “flagship” electric aircraft programs, the previously announced Integral E two-seater and the ERA regional transport.
The French manufacturer has been developing its line of single-engine and commercial aircraft since 2018, with the drones a recent addition owing in part to the need for Europe to stand up its own UAV production and execution free from ITAR constraints of U.S.-made platforms.
Today’s announcement illuminates the next step in that process of development with the construction of the new factory in Toulouse to assemble the aircraft, for which the final permit was issued on March 19, after a process to obtain it that began in 2019.
That’s why the company’s development to stand up production and service in the United States has been critical to its projected growth. With $170 million of the overall funding tied to U.S. projects, Aura is poised to accelerate the construction of its assembly facilities at the Daytona Beach International Airport (KDAB). Caussade emphasized that the monies come from “normal” sources, not from “exotic funds,” but rather those that will give Aura the freedom to proceed on pace. For one, the Florida Opportunity Fund supports its development in the U.S. at Daytona, and Aura plans to leverage its proximity to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) and the university’s R&D center on the airport complex.
The Lycoming-powered aerobatic Integral R, certified under EASA in 2024, notched two deliveries in 2025, to launch customer Voltige in France. Aura targets 15 deliveries in 2026, based on hitting a one aircraft per month cadence at its factory in Toulouse by July. The tricycle-gear Integral S is undergoing flight tests with certification expected in late 2026. The target market for the S model is primary training, with an emphasis on upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT). When it achieves certification, the Integral E proposes to be the first all-electric aircraft certified under EASA CS23.
The regional hybrid ERA has transitioned 20 of its roughly 700 letters of intent to final orders, complete with customer deposits. The price tag is still an estimate at 10 to 15 million euros, but the number of motors (eight) has been fixed, though not many other technical details have been released. First flight is targeted for 2027 with an entry into service of 2030, to keep it on track with the France 2030 decarbonization program.
The Enbata UAV is a MALE class and planned for fully autonomous takeoff and landing. While the first flight is planned by the end of this year, Aura is still scoping out where in France that might take place, as its constraints flying an unpiloted drone are significantly higher than those of a piloted first flight.
So this startup company is going to create not one new aircraft, but three new series of aircraft in three different sectors – primary training, regional transport, and a long-range endurance drone?
And they are somehow going to be better and more cost-effective than companies that have specialized in each sector for years?
And the typically skittish aviation market that won’t buy an aircraft that hasn’t been proven is going to ignore aviation history and blindly order hundreds of these clean-sheet aircraft instead of proven designs?
I’d like to talk to these investors about some prime real estate I own in Florida…..