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 take over from the current Volocopter Managing Director Florian Reuter in September of this year. Hoke was Managing Director at Airbus Defense & Space until September of last year. He also held various managing director positions at Siemens for almost eleven years.

"The experience I have gained at Airbus and Siemens will help us to 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," says Hoke. According to information from the Handelsblatt 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 US dollars has now also come about with the prospect of Hoke as the new CEO. In November of last year, Volocopter canceled its IPO via Spac and angered its investors and crowdfunding investors(we reported).

The 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 management style are an ideal complement to Volocopter's strategy and corporate culture. This is precisely why I proposed him to the Board as a candidate," he says. Reuter accompanied the company on its way from a five-person start-up to a unicorn.

Founded in 2011, the start-up from Bruchsal develops air cabs for passenger transportation and drones for transporting goods. According to its own information, the company has already completed 1,000 successful public and private test flights. Volocopter would like to offer its air cab services at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.