- ALI Technologies, the maker of the XTURISMO bike, is mulling a stock market listing, per Bloomberg.
- The company began accepting pre-orders for its XTURISMO in October.
- The bike, which reaches a height of two metres, is ideal for the Middle East's desert terrain.
The Japanese startup behind a $777,000 flying motorbike is planning to float on the stock exchange through an IPO to raise further funds, according to Bloomberg.
Daisuke Katano, the CEO of Tokyo-based ALI Technologies, which designed the bike, named XTURISMO, told Bloomberg that the company was planning to list the company on the Mothers market for startups.
Katano also said the company was in negotiations to float on the Tokyo Stock Exchange but declined to provide a timeframe or potential target valuation for an IPO.
The 300-kilogram XTURISMO bike, which according to the company's website has a top speed of 80 kilometres per hour with a travel range of up to 40 minutes, launched for pre-orders in October last year, Insider's Grace Dean reported.
In January, the Robb Report reported that the company had begun taking deposits for the bike, which can reach a height of 2 metres (6.6 feet) in three seconds. The vehicle made headlines in Japan in March when it featured in the opening ceremony of a baseball match in Hokkaido.
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Katano told Bloomberg the vehicles were garnering interest in the Middle East, where the desert terrain complemented the hovering nature of the bikes. The bikes are intended to hover rather than fly at altitude.
"The vehicle will enable people to travel where roads are bad and inaccessible to cars, as well as across bodies of water," he said.
The XTURISMO is the latest in a line of startups racing to develop flying automobiles. The tech platform Tracxn estimates there are 37 flying car companies based in the US.
A report published by Fortune Business Insights projects that the global flying car market will grow from $225 million in 2022 to $1.5 trillion by 2040.
A collection of those mobility companies are already listed on the New York Stock Exchange, including air taxi group Joby, which is valued at $3 billion.