Lisa Airplanes, the French developer of the Akoya amphibious light sport aircraft, is putting a positive spin on the news that it has entered into court-supervised receivership after desperately needed private funding failed to materialize last month.
In a statement, the company said it has been placed into receivership “to protect its future.” Lisa Airplanes entered into receivership on July 30 when investors failed to come forward with necessary financing to continue development of the $350,000 luxury light sport airplane.
Lisa Airplanes formed in 2004 with the aim to develop a “revolutionary” light single that would be able to operate from water, land and even snow. Since 2005, about 80 percent of the company’s funding has come from private sources. More recently, Lisa sought additional investment to fund its long-term commercial development, but the “selected investors were not able to fulfill their commitment,” the company says.
Lisa hopes to emerge from receivership in the next six months with enough funding to launch in the U.S. market. “The great response of the American market during the first presentation of the Akoya at the Oshkosh show last month [coupled with the] extraordinary performance of the aircraft throughout its year of flight testing should create investment opportunities,” the company said.
