Joby Aviation begins trading on NYSE after SPAC merger

Shares of electric aircraft maker Joby Aviation jumped more than 14% on their first day of listing on the New York Stock Exchange after its SPAC merger.

Founded in 2009 by CEO JoeBen Bevirt, the start-up wants to make air travel cleaner and quieter, and offers an electric alternative to traditional planes or helicopters for short journeys.

The company aims to bring its electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, known in the industry as eVTOL, into service in 2024. The company had one of its planes park in front of the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday to mark the occasion. According to the company, its eVTOL can carry four passengers and a pilot, covering up to 150 miles on a single charge with a cruising speed of 200 mph.

Joby Aviation went public by merging with a blank check company called Reinvent Technology Partners, run by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Zynga founder Mark Pincus. While the shares were previously listed under the special purpose acquisition company’s symbol RTP, Joby Aviation now trades under JOBY and JOBY WS.

The PSPC deal will net Joby more than $ 1 billion, which the company intends to use to gain Federal Aviation Administration certifications, build electric planes, and make its air taxi service operational in the United States. United.

Bonny Simi, a three-decade pilot and former president of the JetBlue venture capital arm, leads Joby’s flight operations and leads its efforts to achieve FAA certification for its aircraft.

While the company’s main revenue will come from operating air taxis, it is also looking to generate and sell environmental regulatory credits to other aviation companies who will need to offset their carbon emissions.

Commercial aviation contributes more than 2% of global carbon emissions, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation.

Like Joby, other eVTOL competitors have attracted investment from US airlines as they scramble to cut emissions.

For example, in February, United Airlines joined with other investors in backing Archer, and in June, American Airlines announced plans to invest in Vertical Aerospace, which said it had pre-orders for up to 1,000. eVTOL aircraft. American said it would be a launch customer with aircraft rental company Avalon. Virgin Atlantic had pre-order options.

German eVTOL maker Lilium and Archer both have SPAC agreements as well.

Unlike other manufacturers, Joby intends to operate its own air taxi service, installing “skyports” and charging stations for its planes in and beyond the United States.

Joby’s executive chairman Paul Sciarra told CNBC that it might seem strange being the maker and operator of eVTOLs, but that Boeing once owned United. “This allows us to support the safety of the first operations,” he said. “We choose the routes, we choose the pilots, we choose the take-off and landing places.”

Speaking to CNBC’s Phil Lebeau in New York on Wednesday, Bevirt said that while Joby will launch its air taxis as a piloted service, “Over time we will add incremental levels of pilot assistance and full range, the same way you see autopilot running in automobiles. “

Prior to its SPAC deal with RTP, Joby had also raised funds from investors such as Uber, JetBlue Technology Ventures, and early backers Tesla, Toyota and Baillie Gifford. In the early days of the company, Bevirt funded Joby with part of his income by inventing the GorillaPod, a flexible camera tripod for smartphones.

In a press release ahead of Joby’s market debut, Hoffman said Joby was “Tesla meets Uber in the air.”