Safran has taken a minority stake in French propulsion specialist Akira through its venture arm, joining MBDA and the state-backed Definvest fund in the company’s capital. The investment ties the aerospace group more closely to Akira, which is based in Bayonne and Bergerac and works on propulsion-system design, prototyping, testing and high-performance rotating machinery, including piston engines.
The transaction forms part of Akira’s latest fundraising round and is intended to support expansion of production and test capacity. It also backs a broader industrial partnership that already covers work on the CFM RISE demonstrator and research projects in hybridisation and hydrogen combustion.
The funding is also aimed at helping Akira move towards small- and medium-series production, secure EN9100 quality certification and accelerate development of drone engines and micro-turbines for defence applications. The company has built a position as a specialist test and development partner for propulsion technologies, making it a useful industrial collaborator for Safran’s future engine programmes.