Cologne – A YPOG team co-led by Benjamin Ullrich and Johannes Janning provided comprehensive advice to grocery retailer REWE Group on the latest financing round of the German delivery drone manufacturer and service provider Wingcopter. The funding has a total volume of $42 million and is part of the company's Series A expansion round, tripling its total equity raise to more than $60 million. Next to the existing investors Futury Capital and Xplorer Capital, REWE Group as well as Salvia, XAI technologies and ITOCHU invested in Wingcopter for the first time. As one of Germany's major grocery retailers with more than 12.000 locations across Europe, REWE Group represents an ideal extension of Wingcopter's investor base and gives a clear signal of Wingcopter's potential beyond medical drone delivery services in the future.
With the incoming capital, Wingcopter will further expand its drone delivery services worldwide and scale up the production of the world's most efficient eVTOL delivery drone, the Wingcopter 198. In order to achieve this, the manufacturing facility will enter a semi-automated production cycle, which will significantly speed up the production process. Moreover, Wingcopter intends to expedite the company's research and development activities focused on new product features, and to add additional 80 employees to all company departments over the next few months.
Advisors REWE Group:
Dr. Benjamin Ullrich (Co-Lead, Transactions), Partner
Dr. Johannes Janning (Co-Lead, Transactions), Associated Partner
Dr. Benedikt Flöter (IP/IT), Associated Partner
Ann-Kristin Lochmann (Tax), Associated Partner
Christiane Schnitzler (Transactions), Associate
The REWE Group in-house team was led by Dr. Ulrich Fleischer (Legal Counsel - M&A and Financing). For regulatory matters, YPOG worked closely together with a team from Posser Spieth Wolfers & Partners, including Sebastian Lutz-Bachmann and Julia Simon, and for employment law with a team from Push Wahlig Workplace Law including, Dr. Marius Fritsche and Dr. Luca Rawe.
About REWE Group
The cooperatively organized REWE Group is one of the leading trade and tourism groups in Germany and Europe. In 2021, the company generated a total external turnover of around € 76,5 billion. Founded in 1927, REWE Group operates with 380.000 employees in 21 European countries.
About Wingcopter
Wingcopter is a German manufacturer of eVTOL, fixed-wing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and provider of drone delivery services, focused on optimizing medical supply chains, as well as last-mile logistics of packages, tools, spare parts, food, and groceries. The 120-strong team is dedicated to improving and saving lives worldwide through meaningful commercial and humanitarian applications. Thanks to its patented tilt-rotor mechanism and software algorithms, the Wingcopter 198 can take off and land vertically like a multicopter, while flying long distances as efficiently and quickly as a fixed-wing aircraft, even in heavy rain and wind.
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About us
YPOG is a law firm specialized in tax and business law, active in the core fields of Funds, Tax, Banking + Finance, and Transactions. The team at YPOG represents a broad client base, which ranges from emerging technology companies and family-run SMEs to large corporations, as well as private equity, and venture capital funds. YPOG is one of the leading advisors for venture capital, private equity, and fund structuring in Germany. The firm and its partners have been recognized nationally and internationally by JUVE, Best Lawyers, Legal 500, Focus, Chambers and Partners as well as Leaders League. Today, YPOG has more than 120 experienced lawyers and tax specialists and a notary, in three offices, located in Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne.
