Archer raises $300M to accelerate hybrid aircraft platform development

Archer raised $301.75M1, further reinforcing Archer’s strong financial position and strategically positioning it to accelerate the development of its hybrid aircraft platform for the defense market and beyond. Leading institutional investors participated in this financing, including funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. This raise brings Archer’s total liquidity position to ~$1B. Archer has long maintained one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry, and this additional capital further strengthens its position.

Archer launched Archer Defense in December to develop next-generation aircraft for defense applications. The first product from this division is planned to be a hybrid-propulsion, vertical-take-off-and landing aircraft.

“I believe the opportunity for advanced vertical lift aircraft across defense appears to be substantially larger than I originally expected,” says Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer. “As a result, we are raising additional capital to help us invest in critical capabilities like composites and batteries to help enable us to capture this opportunity and more.”

With its further reinforced balance sheet, Archer also continues to be well-positioned for its commercialization effort. Paired with the completion of construction of its ARC manufacturing facility, continued progress towards FAA certification and launch of its cross-industry consortium in the UAE, Archer is tracking well towards its goals in 2025 and beyond.

Archer is also releasing certain of its preliminary estimated financial results for the fourth quarter of 2024, reporting that its GAAP operating expenses will be within the range of $120 million to $140 million and total non-GAAP operating expenses are in line with its guidance range of $95 million to $110 million. Archer is also confirming that it does not expect that its total non-GAAP operating expenses for the first quarter of 2025 will materially increase over this Q4 guided range.

The financing provided for the purchase and sale of 35,500,000 shares of Archer’s Class A common stock at a price of $8.50 per share based on a volume-weighted average price of the Class A common stock, in a registered direct offering. The net proceeds from the offering will be used for the development of next generation aircraft manufacturing capabilities related to this effort, including batteries and composites, and the remainder for general corporate purposes. The shares of Class A common stock were offered pursuant to an automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR (File No. 333-284812) filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on February 11, 2025, which became automatically effective upon filing. Moelis & Company LLC is acting as the exclusive placement agent in connection with this offering.