Archer Buys Former Rival Wisk Aero in Boeing Share Deal

Archer Aviation now owns former rival Wisk Aero, three years after the companies settled a trade secret lawsuit. Under the deal terms described in a regulatory filing, Boeing agreed to sell Wisk Aero and two other subsidiaries to Archer in exchange for an ownership stake in Archer.

The other subsidiaries are SkyGrid, described as a digital airspace and air traffic management software company, and drone maker Insitu. Boeing will receive newly issued Archer shares equal to 19.75% of Archer’s shares outstanding immediately before closing, resulting in about a 16.5% stake in the company after the deal.

The acquisition closes a major chapter in a once-bitter relationship between two electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft companies. In April 2021, Wisk sued Archer over alleged theft of confidential information and intellectual property.

The legal fight lasted two years before the companies reached a settlement that ended Wisk’s lawsuit and Archer’s countersuit seeking $1 billion in damages. That settlement also created a collaboration, with Archer agreeing to make Wisk the exclusive provider of autonomous technology.

Wisk began as Kittyhawk, an electric aviation startup led by Sebastian Thrun and backed by Google co-founder Larry Page. Kittyhawk developed several aircraft programs, but its Cora program became the basis for Wisk after it was spun into a joint venture with Boeing in late 2019.

Wisk set out to develop and commercialize electric, self-flying air taxis. Boeing invested another $450 million into Wisk in early 2022, and by 2023 Wisk was a fully owned Boeing subsidiary.

Archer has expanded its eVTOL ambitions beyond an initial plan to build an air taxi network. The company has moved into defense, raised $430 million in December 2024 for Archer Defense, and raised another $300 million in 2025 from institutional investors including BlackRock and Wellington.

Archer is also continuing work on its all-electric Midnight aircraft. Earlier this month, it completed a piloted round-trip flight between Salinas Municipal Airport and Monterey Regional Airport as it prepares to begin operations later this year under the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program.