ZeroAvia targets early 2027 to close critical Series D funding
Continued support for UK operation hinges on securing fresh financing as cumulative losses at unit top £110 million.
Hydrogen propulsion developer ZeroAvia faces a race against time to secure additional financing by the second quarter of next year or face a fresh round of cutbacks, the latest accounts for its UK operation warn.
This would be a fresh setback for the business, with ZeroAvia having earlier this year slashed two-thirds of its workforce, abandoned development of its own electric motor, and rescoped its plans for hydrogen powertrain development after securing lower than expected funding in late 2025.
Covering the period to 31 December 2025 – and approved by the company’s board on 7 August – the accounts also disclose fresh losses at ZeroAvia Ltd of £29.4 million ($39 million), a modest improvement over the £35.9 million loss recorded the previous year.
Additionally, the latest loss means that the UK business’s cumulative losses over the past four years have now topped £110.5 million, while it has yet to deliver a certificated product to the market.
Although ZeroAvia Ltd is a subsidiary of US-based parent company ZeroAvia Inc, a round of restructuring that kicked off in late 2025 left the UK firm as the centre of operations – the cutbacks meant just two employees remained in the United States, chief executive Christine Ourmieres-Widener told FlightGlobal earlier this year.
Despite ZeroAvia Ltd’s central role in the company’s research and development programme, it continues to depend on funding from its US parent for survival.
Cost reductions
ZeroAvia Inc last raised financing in late 2025, but this was “below the level originally targeted”, the accounts state, “leading the company to reduce its cost base and reprioritise its roadmap” to extended its available cash runway.
Its latest cashflow projections show “ZeroAvia Inc has sufficient funding in place to support group-wide operations, including those of the UK subsidiary, through to the second quarter of 2027,” the accounts state.
However, that continued support hinges on “the successful completion of the ongoing group-level equity fundraising during the going concern assessment period [to August 2027]”.
Should it fail to secure the fresh cash injection promised by the Series D funding round, “this would adversely impact the company’s ability to pursue its development roadmap”, the document adds.
The Series D round is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2027 and the company says there is “substantial interest” from both new and existing investors and that it is “confident that sufficient financing will be secured”.
Based on the promise of continued support, the accounts for ZeroAvia Ltd have been prepared on a ‘going concern’ basis – covering 12 months from sign-off. Nonetheless, the company flags “the existence of a material uncertainty” related to its continued operation.
Grants from Innovate UK have included funding to develop hydrogen refueling infrastructure. Source: Dominic Perry/FlightGlobal
As a pre-revenue company, ZeroAvia Ltd has also leant on grants from the UK government, via its Innovate UK and related Aerospace Technology Institute bodies to help fund its research efforts.
In 2025, these stood at £2.3 million, up from £2.1 million the previous year; meanwhile, total research and development spending fell slightly to £9.3 million, against £10.9 million in 2024.
Additionally, the accounts note its continued success in attracting further public funding, winning grants from the EU and Innovate UK for separate projects. These are valued at €21 million ($23 million) and £1.5 million, respectively.
In the case of the former, known as ODIN and awarded in March 2026, the project “aims to deploy the first commercial hydrogen-electric propulsion aircraft in the [European Economic Area], retrofitting 15 Cessna 208B Grand Caravans with a ZA600 hydrogen-electric powertrain and operate them across a network of hydrogen refuelling stations at 15 regional airports in Norway”, a project factsheet discloses.
“The grant takes the form of a lump sum, the project commenced in April 2026 and runs for a period of up to 105 months,” ZeroAvia Ltd’s accounts add.
Although the funding runs until 31 March 2028, entry into operation is only expected by 31 December 2031, the factsheet discloses.
Speaking earlier this year, ZeroAvia’s chief strategy officer James McMicking said a timeline of 2030 service entry for the converted Caravan is “not unreasonable”.
Employee numbers
With the majority of ZeroAvia Ltd’s workforce restructuring taking place this year, employee numbers vary only slightly between 2024 and 2025, at an average of 220 and 199 staff members, respectively.
Staff costs stood at £19.7 million in 2025, down marginally on £20.8 million a year earlier. In addition, the highest paid director earned £278,000 plus pension contributions in 2025, versus £345,000 last year.
Among the departures from ZeroAvia Ltd this year were founder and chief executive Val Miftakhov, chief financial officer Georgy Egorov and chief business officer Sergey Kiselev.
ZeroAvia Ltd currently has two directors – finance chief John King and managing director Gabriele Teofili. While Ourmieres-Widener has replaced Miftakhov at group level, she is not a director of the UK business.
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