Lilium (Decline)

Lilium raised over $1B for electric air taxis, going public via SPAC at a $3.3B valuation before collapsing 90%+ as the path to certification and profitability stretched endlessly. The company exemplifies eVTOL hype—the technology is real but the economics and regulatory timelines were vastly underestimated. Like an organism that exhausts its fat reserves before reaching reproductive maturity, Lilium may run out of capital before achieving commercial flight.