Expliseat Poised for North America Growth with Increased Capacity, $41M New Funding
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The latest funding round for French seating manufacturer Expliseat saw the company secure $41 million in fundraising, marking the largest capital increase in its history. Together with the opening of a 6,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Angers, France last September, and a rebrand to reflect its evolution into a “full-fledged industry disruptor,” the company is poised to further develop both its product portfolio and grow its international footprint.
During the funding round – led by Crédit Mutuel Innovation, along with the SPI fund managed by Bpifrance for the French Government with the participation of Supernova Invest and Swen Capital – historical investors BNP Paribas Développement, GO Capital, and NCI each invested for the second time after doing so during the company’s $18 million funding round for the Angers facility in 2023.
The factory in Angers has capacity for up to 32,000 seats each year, which will help to fulfil Expliseat’s $57 million order book, a result of the company tripling its customer portfolio in the last two years.
Existing customers include Air France’s regional subsidiary HOP!, which is currently taking delivery of Embraer 190 aircraft retrofitted with Expliseat’s TiSeat 2X as part of a 20 million euro investment that resulted in the carrier becoming a finalist for the “Airline Innovation” Crystal Cabin Award this year. Air France is the launch customer for the patented titanium and carbon-fiber seat, which is billed as 30 per cent lighter than traditional aircraft seats and Expliseat says can lower CO2 emissions per passenger by up to 6%.
Expliseat also revealed it had an undisclosed customer that will linefit the “Lite” version of its TiSeat 2X, weighing just six kilograms per passenger while retaining 95% design commonality with the premium TiSeat 2X Prime, on its Airbus aircraft at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in April.
The seating manufacturer predicts it will deliver a total of 10,000 seats by the end of this year, and with 10,000 Ti seats already in operation, the company is also looking to establish a global network of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) organizations.
“We are in advanced discussions with four MRO providers to establish a regional spares and maintenance support network by the end of 2025,” explained Expliseat CEO Amaury Barberot. “These providers are capable of addressing both maintenance and repair capability as well as distribution and they are based primarily in Canada and USA.”
This location makes sense due to Expliseat’s existing North American customers, which include Canada-based Jazz Aviation and Nolinor Aviation. Jazz Aviation, which operates Air Canada Express services, is retrofitting the TiSeat 2V (the TiSeat model for regional jets) onboard its 25 De Havilland Dash 8-400 aircraft; while Canadian charter airline Nolinor Aviation retrofitted its Boeing 737s with Expliseat’s TiSeat E2 model back in 2020.
“Expliseat is now positioned as a technology-driven manufacturer delivering next-generation seating solutions for today’s demands and tomorrow’s mobility landscape.”
– Amaury Barberot, Expliseat
Furthermore, a Canadian MRO organization will support Expliseat’s recently opened commercial hub in Montreal.
The company has identified the North American as a high-growth market that is well-suited to the TiSeat 2X: “Our TiSeat 2X Prime [the seat being launched by HOP!] features design and functionalities which are ideal for the North American market and Mexico: premium design, connectivity features, while still offering 30% lower weights and the most robust materials and maintainable design,” stated Barberot.
In terms of new products, Expliseat has confirmed its focus is on “premium” ultralight seats, initially for regional carriers.
“There is a strong demand for a modern, functional lightweight product in that segment,” Barberot said. “Current products are obsolete and underperforming. Airlines tell us they wish to have them now, and we are aligning our timelines accordingly. Our primary target remains the regional market, but we will look at expanding that in the future.”
According to Expliseat VP Strategy, Marketing and Communications Antonio Ficca, the new brand identity not only encapsulates its commercial growth, but also its commitment to sustainability: “Our new tagline, ‘Ingenuity that works,’ reflects our pragmatic innovation – engineering that delivers both for people, for customers and the planet.”
This is not just marketing jargon. At AIX, Expliseat also revealed that it ranked top in the lightweight category of Airbus’ newly launched Eco-Efficiency Index Standard, which Ficca told PAX International “measure[s] ecological efficiency of cabin items as a contribution to ecology.”
On the rebrand, Ficca concluded, “The narrative of “The Missing Piece,” expresses how Expliseat fills a long-standing industry gap – bringing high-performance seating to underserved markets like US regional aviation, for instance. The rebrand demonstrates hard-won industry maturity: Expliseat is now positioned as a technology-driven manufacturer delivering next-generation seating solutions for today’s demands and tomorrow’s mobility landscape.”