Flying car startup Urban Aeronautics Ltd.’s compact electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles are getting closer to the launchpad, after the company secured $10 million toward a new round of financing.

Announced today, the Series A funding comes via private investors from Israel, where the company is based, the U.S. and Brazil.

Urban Aeronautics has developed CityHawk, a compact eVTOL that melds the dynamics of a helicopter with the look and feel of a regular car and runs on an environmentally friendly fuel source. CityHawk is powered by a distinctive, wingless exterior and patented, fully enclosed Fancraft rotor system that enables it to take off smoothly and land safely after a short flight.

The company envisions CityHawk serving as a kind of flying taxi that will take passengers on short trips, flying over a city’s skyline to get them to their destination in just a few minutes. The vehicle is fueled by hydrogen, which the company says is the most sustainable type of fuel available today, and it generates minimal noise too.

Urban Aeronautics says CityHawk is almost complete. It recently carried out successful test flights that demonstrate its smooth vertical takeoff, landing and short distance flight abilities in windy conditions. Apparently, that’s a key step on the road to commercial production of the vehicle.

The CityHawk will also require infrastructure in the form of what the company calls “vertiports,” which are basically landing pads where the vehicles can be refueled, loaded and unloaded, and maintained.

Urban Aeronautics Chief Executive Nimrod Golan-Yanay told SiliconANGLE the company is working with a firm called Skyports Ltd. to work out the best way to build this infrastructure, with an eye to launching CityHawk for commercial charter flights in the U.S. by 2026.

Besides serving as a taxi service, Urban Aeronautics believes CityHawk has potential as a kind of flying ambulance too. Indeed, people with serious medical conditions needing emergency treatment may well be among the first to ride in one, as Urban Aeronautics says it has already taken a pre-order from an Israeli company called Hatzolah Air to deliver four CityHawk eVTOLs for ambulance use.

Urban Aeronautics is also applying for the CityHawk to be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration for emergency use in the U.S.

“As automation, urban air traffic management and infrastructure evolve we will see more and more CityHawks flying around our cities,” Golan-Yanay predicted. “We believe this is a new design that unlike helicopters can allow you to get closer to buildings and people with a much greater safety since there are no external moving rotors or wings. We envision that future cities will look very close to movies like ‘The Fifth Element,’ where you could hover next to a building and have people hop on or off the CityHawk.”

As futuristic as Urban Aeronautics’ concept seems, the company does face a fair bit of competition. German startup Volocopter GmbH has stated its goal of building an entire “ecosystem surrounding urban air mobility” and has raised more than $60 million so far. And Uber Technologies Inc. has its own Uber Elevate division that’s also working on a flying taxi concept.

Image: Urban Aeronautics