Dirk Hoke replaces Florian Reuter as Managing Director at Volocopter

Reuter turned Volocopter from a five-person start-up into a unicorn. Now a former Airbus managing director is to make the company profitable.

Dirk Hoke will replace current Volocopter CEO Florian Reuter as of September this year. Hoke served as managing director at Airbus Defence & Space until September of last year. He also held various managing director positions at Siemens for almost eleven years.

"The experience I gained at Airbus and Siemens will help us monetize Volocopter's leading market position achieved under Florian. Volocopter's product range, certification progress, team spirit and unique ecosystem approach give us a clear competitive edge," said Hoke. According to information from the Handelsblatt's the change in the management of the air cab start-up had already been decided at the end of 2021 and had united the investors again. The new financing round of $170 million had now also come about with the prospect of Hoke as the new boss, he said. In November last year, Volocopter had canceled its IPO via Spac, angering its investors and crowdfunding investors(we reported).

Current Volocopter CEO Florian Reuter will remain on board as a shareholder. According to the company, his resignation from the management board is at his own request. "I have known Dirk for several years and am convinced that his experience and leadership style are an ideal fit for Volocopter's strategy and corporate culture. That is exactly why I had proposed him to the board as a candidate," he says. Reuter guided the company on its journey from a five-person start-up to a unicorn.

Founded in 2011, the Bruchsal-based start-up develops air cabs for passenger transport and drones for transporting goods. According to its own information, the company has already completed 1000 successful public and private test flights. Volocopter would like to offer its air cab services at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.