LIFT Aircraft announced Monday the advent of their Beta program, which will allow investors that contribute $5,000 or more via StartEngine to have early access to flight training for HEXA flights at their Austin, Texas headquarters.

The company shared that they’re able to make this step forward now that they’ve completed testing of their beginner customer flight envelope in partnership with the US Air Force, and received approval from our Safety Advisory Board. LIFT has stated that this is the last step prior to their full public launch and US Tour.

LIFT has raised $18M in funding from VC’s, accredited investors, and US government grants, including over $5M from crowd sourced investing. Over 2,500 people have reportedly contributed.

In other recent news, LIFT completed the first-ever piloted eVTOL demonstration flights in Japan with the HEXA aircraft. The flights were conducted in partnership with Marubeni Corporation, with whom the Austin, Texas based company is partnering to develop and advance the eVTOL market in Japan, and with participation from GMO Internet Group.

LIFT has formally concluded Phase 1 flight test and beginner flight envelope development with the U.S. Air Force and has launched Alpha Flights, allowing people outside of their Flight Operations and Test teams to fly.

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Why it’s important: LIFT’s announcement would allow the public to visit LIFT’s flight test center in Austin and fly the HEXA prototype themselves for $5,000. LIFT has maintained a goal of making flying accessible to the general public and is backing up their intent by offering flight tests for a small fraction of the price of purchasing a HEXA. Additionally, these trial flight tests will offer more visibility to LIFT’s technology and enable the public to have increased visibility of the future of aerial mobility technologies.

To invest in LIFT, view the company’s StartEngine page here.

Posted by Naish Gaubatz