Japan’s Kanematsu Corporation led a group of new investors backing the first close in a $23 million Series B funding round for advanced air mobility ground infrastructure specialist and drone operator Skyports. The diverse trading group, which will appoint a director to the UK-based start-up’s board, was joined by industrial real estate company Goodman Group, Italian airport and infrastructure funds 2i Aeroporti and F2i, and GreenPoint, a U.S.-based venture-capital firm.

According to Skyports, the additional funding will help it to step up its partnerships with several eVTOL aircraft developers and operators, for which it is planning to build and operate vertiports in several locations worldwide. The company also intends to scale up its drone operations services in Europe and Asia.

All of Skyports’ existing institutional investors also back the latest funding round, with several of them increasing their stakes in the company. These include Deutsche Bahn Digital Ventures, Aeroports de Paris, Solar Ventus, Irelandia, and Levitate Capital. Meanwhile, DHL eCommerce CEO Ken Allen is joining the Skyports board as a non-executive director.

“This is another great milestone for Skyports as we continue our journey to be the leading vertiport owner and operator in the world,” commented CEO Duncan Walker. “The support of our original investors who have deep experience in aviation and infrastructure and the addition of new capital from world-class companies with a global footprint enables us to build the air taxi ecosystem alongside our best-in-class partners for initial operations in a couple of years.”

In December 2019, Skyports raised $6.9 million through a Series A funding round. It has now accumulated a total of over $33 million.

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