Leonardo joins shareholders and board of FlyingBasket, leading cargo drone startup in Europe

A new and important milestone in the growth path of FlyingBasket, the South Tyrolean startup that has been able to carve out a role for itself as an absolute leader in the high-capacity drone industry in Europe just a few years after its inception.

Leonardo, a leading company in the defense, aerospace and security sectors, has completed in recent days-through the exercise of an option stipulated in 2021 and linked to the achievement of pre-established objectives-its entry into FlyingBasket's capital and the appointment of a member to the Board of Directors by co-option.

As a result of this transaction, Leonardo will go on to hold about 10 percent of the company, with about 25 percent held by Cysero - a venture capital fund promoted by AVM Gestioni SGR and Kilometro Rosso, which invested directly in the company in March 2022 - and the remaining 65 percent divided among the founders and managers of the company, which was born from the genius of brothers Moritz and Matthias Moroder.

Taking advantage of the dynamics of a constantly expanding sector and leveraging a very strong capacity for innovation, FlyingBasket has succeeded in just a few years in establishing itself on the market as a reality of excellence, as demonstrated by the agreements signed with Enel and Cablex (Swisscom group), along with the applications developed in the field of renewables, particularly for wind power, and participation in important tenders in the logistics and defense fields.

The interest of Leonardo - which after selecting FlyingBasket as preferred supplier will now make available infrastructure and technological assets to the investee - is linked to the role FlyingBasket could play in the future national logistics network, based on the use of cargo drones. In addition, the multinational company's entry into the capital will, thanks in part to its direct involvement in governance, further the company's growth path already started with the contribution of the Cysero fund.

"We immediately believed in FlyingBasket, supporting its growth path and providing our contribution not only as a financial partner but also as a reliable partner for the structuring of business processes," comments Giovanna Dossena - CEO of AVM Gestioni SGR.

"The Cysero fund has defined together with the management the growth strategy, strengthened the corporate finance levers and introduced management, governance and control mechanisms capable of a stable and deep presidium oriented to principles of transparency, sustainability and positive impact on the economic and social context. Today, the entry of Leonardo opens new horizons of experimentation, competition and development for the company."

"The entry of Leonardo S.p.A. consolidates a relationship already developed over the years in which the know-how and network available to the company has enabled FlyingBasket's growth," emphasizes Moritz Moroder, CEO of FlyingBasket. "The path started will see further developments thanks to this initiative and confirms the interest of investors and industrial stakeholders in the project created in 2015 that aims to bring our innovative solutions to Italy and Europe to promote the values of sustainability and accessibility in the air transport sector."

"Leonardo's decision to enter the company's capital is the best confirmation of the absolute excellenceat the European level of FlyingBasket's product and team," adds Luca Todesco, FlyingBasket board member, who oversaw the Leonardo S.p.A. entry transaction on behalf of Cysero. "We are eager to start working with the people at Leonardo to further accelerate the growth of FlyingBasket."

"We are very pleased with this important milestone for FlyingBasket" - comments Salvatore Majorana, Director of Kilometro Rosso - "which rewards the ability to team up and pool the best energies. In this spirit, the work of the Cysero team and its ability to dialogue with the business community is a resource for the development of the fund's investees."

AVM Group has been operating in the private equity and venture capital sectors since 1995 with a network of Italian entrepreneurs and institutional investors.

Avm's investment teams are specialized and dedicated to the development of Italian SMEs to realize their growth potential through aggregations with a view to medium- to long-term strategies.

AVM invests with dedicated funds in the Life Essentials (Food&Beverage, Health&Beauty, Domotics), robotics and cybersecurity, and impact finance sectors.

Giovanna Dossena is founder and CEO of AVM Gestioni.

Kilometro Rosso is one of Europe's leading innovation districts, a campus that is now home to 80 Resident Partners - companies, laboratories and research centers -, with a total of 2,500 employees and researchers. Developed on a private initiative, the Technology Park has been operating since 2009 with an inclusive and collaborative logic between the business system, the university, the territory and institutional references, with the mission of fostering and supporting innovation processes in the manufacturing system. To this end, it has built a system of competencies in the areas of Robotics, Cybersecurity, AI, materials science, additive manufacturing, mechatronics, life sciences and environmental impact that have led to the development of 37 laboratories, R&D projects worth more than 170 million euros, 750 patents filed, and an intense dissemination activity that reaches thousands of people each year.

Alberto Bombassei is the Chairman, Salvatore Majorana is the Director.

FlyingBasket is an Italian company based in Bolzano, Italy, specializing in the design and production of cargo drones, with a payload capacity of 100 kg. The start-up was founded in 2015 and since its inception has become the benchmark in the commercial cargo drone industry.

FlyingBasket provides drone lifting and transportation services in the sectors: logistics, energy, telecommunications and others.

Leonardo, a global high-tech company, is among the world's top companies in Aerospace, Defense and Security and Italy's leading industrial company. Organized into five business divisions, Leonardo has a significant industrial presence in Italy, the UK, Poland, the US and Israel, where it also operates through subsidiaries such as Leonardo DRS (defense electronics) and a number of joint ventures and shareholdings: ATR, MBDA, Telespazio, Thales Alenia Space and Avio. Leonardo competes in the most important international markets by leveraging its areas of technology and product leadership (Helicopters; Aircraft; Aerostructures; Electronics; Cyber & Security Solutions and Space). Listed on the Milan Stock Exchange (LDO), Leonardo reported consolidated revenues of 14.7 billion euros in 2022 and invested 2 billion euros in R&D. The company has been within the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) since 2010, confirming its position as one of the leading global companies in sustainability in 2022. Leonardo is also included in the MIB ESG index.