Toulouse: A few days after the first pre-modification flights of its prototype aircraft, Kepplair Evolution has announced that it has finalised a new €6 million funding round, bringing the total funding raised since 2024 to €17.5 million, comprising €12.5 million in private funding and €5 million in public grants, through support from the State and the Occitanie Region (France 2030 and the ERDF).
This €6 million closing, which forms part of the Series A funding round launched in early spring with the assistance of the law firm CMS Francis Lefebvre for a total of €20 million, confirms the renewed confidence of Kepplair Evolution’s investors in the execution of its industrial roadmap and represents a major milestone in the company’s growth.
Among the investors in this funding round are several investors from the Aerospace Angels network, France’s leading business angel network specialising in the aerospace sector. Their commitment demonstrates further recognition of the technical, industrial and economic credibility of the KEPPLAIR 72 programme.
David JOUBERT, Founding Chairman of Kepplair Evolution, said, “This new round of funding marks a decisive milestone in our development. Above all, it reflects our investors’ renewed confidence in our ability to see this programme through to completion. Over the past few months, we have achieved every objective we had set ourselves: official recognition of our project as being of national interest by the French Government and the Occitanie Region; continued progress towards certification with EASA; delivery of our prototype aircraft; and now a significant strengthening of our financial resources. The entry into our share capital of business angels from Aerospace Angels also sends a particularly strong signal: seeing recognised professionals from the aerospace sector choose to support our development is a significant recognition of the work accomplished by our teams and the soundness of our strategy.”
A Funding Round to Accelerate the Programme
This new funding round comes at a pivotal moment in the programme, as Kepplair Evolution is now entering the phase of implementing its first demonstrator and conducting flight tests. It aims to accelerate the programme’s technical development, the aircraft’s certification by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), prototype testing and preparations for its industrialisation.
Kepplair Evolution’s objective remains unchanged: to secure certification for the KEPPLAIR 72 and bring it into service by 2027.
An Industrial Response to a Global Strategic Challenge
Faced with ageing fleets of water-bombing aircraft and the intensification of forest fires worldwide – more than 91,000 hectares burnt in France by the end of August 2026, representing an increase of more than 300 per cent compared with the same date last year – Kepplair Evolution is developing a pragmatic European solution based on the conversion of an ATR 72.
This approach significantly reduces development times, the necessary investment and industrial risks, whilst offering an aircraft capable of carrying out, according to operators’ needs, fire-fighting missions, cargo transport, medical evacuations or the transport of rescue teams.
The programme thus helps to strengthen European industrial sovereignty in a field that has become strategic for the protection of people, territories and the environment.
David JOUBERT added, “With €17.5 million raised in less than two years, Kepplair Evolution is no longer just a company developing an innovative project; it is becoming a manufacturer preparing to bring a new generation of European water bomber aircraft to market. The coming months will be devoted to testing, certification and the industrialisation of the KEPPLAIR 72, with our ambition remaining unchanged: to quickly offer governments and private operators a high-performance, sovereign and sustainable European solution, capable of meeting the growing challenges of aerial firefighting.”
