Gates and Bezos funds back hydrogen-powered plane startup

The hydrogen-powered aviation startup ZeroAvia has raised $37.7m from the UK government and a group of investors that includes funds founded by Bill Gates and Amazon.com Inc. ZeroAvia said it aims to use the money to advance development of technology that could cut carbon emissions from the aviation sector by replacing fossil fuel-burning propulsion with a hydrogen fuel-cell system. The company raised $21.4m in a series A round led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a fund backed by Bill Gates. Other investors in the round included Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Horizons Ventures Ltd., Shell Ventures and Summa Equity. The UK government also provided GBP12.3m ($16.6m) to help the London and California-based company make a 19-seat hydrogen-electric powered plane by 2023. Hydrogen could be the key to slashing emissions from the sector in the coming decades. Airbus has its own plans to develop hydrogen-powered planes. A plane with ZeroAvia’s hydrogen hydrogen fuel cell technology made its first flight from the company research and development facility in Cranfield, England in September. CEO Val Miftakhov said that 10 airlines are preparing to use the company’s technology once it’s ready for sale in 2023.<br/>