Electric aviation startup Beta Technologies plans to go public later this year in an effort to raise capital, according to an industry news outlet.
In a report on Tuesday, the Air Current, a digital aviation news site, cited unnamed sources with “knowledge of the development.” Beta expects to make a public filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by the end of 2025, the Air Current reported.
A Beta spokesperson declined to comment. But Seven Days has identified multiple Beta job ads in recent months that seek applicants with experience in public financial reporting requirements, including quarterly and annual statements. An active posting for a “financial reporting and technical accounting manager” describes job responsibilities that include external disclosures. The ad seeks applicants with at least four years of work “in reporting and technical accounting environment, public experience preferred.”
Beta, headquartered at the Burlington International Airport in South Burlington, is planning a traditional public offering, the Air Current reported. Several of Beta’s top competitors have already taken their companies public via a special-purpose acquisition company, a shortcut approach that was popular during the pandemic.
Going public would mark a significant shift for one of Vermont’s largest and fastest-growing tech firms. Founded in 2017, Beta has raised more than $1 billion in private capital, most recently from GE Aerospace, which infused another $300 million into Beta earlier this month in exchange for a board seat.
CEO Kyle Clark has previously played up the benefits of remaining a privately held company. Going public would bring a “whole boatload of disadvantages,” namely the requirement to communicate with public investors, Clark told Seven Days in 2021, as other electric aviation startups were headed in that direction.
“We have the fortunate advantage of only having to convince our customers and the [Federal Aviation Administration] that we have a safe, reliable aircraft that serves our mission,” Clark said at the time. “Not only do you get deposits and down payments from the customers, but you get credibility with alternative sources of funds.”
Since then, however, the path to developing new electric aircraft has grown longer and taken more turns than industry optimists, including Beta, initially estimated. The U.S. Air Force abandoned an innovation program that partnered with Beta and other electric aircraft makers this year after a consultant determined that the electric-powered prototypes were too limited in their range and capacity to be useful. The military has since pivoted toward hybrid electric aircraft; Beta and its competitors are now developing hybrid models as well.
The long process of certifying a commercially viable electric plane has left startups such as Beta hungry for cash. Several companies have gone bankrupt in the past year, though experts tend to see Beta as a leader in the field.
Beta disclosed in a securities filing earlier this month that it was planning to raise another $200 million in private equity.
Vermont has very few publicly traded firms. Casella Waste Systems, based in Rutland, is the most prominent. It trades on the Nasdaq stock exchange.