The Expliseat TiSeat 2X.
Expliseat raised €36 million ($41 million) last week to scale and expand its seating manufacturing business, as well as develop a global MRO network for its products.
This comes at a time when the market has a high demand for aircraft seats—both for new-production aircraft as well as for retrofits.
Part of the money will be used to launch a premium ultralight seat and to expand its presence in North America, which it sees as a key growth engine. It recently established an operational center in Montreal and is “in discussion with several local partners to establish our customer support network in the U.S.,” a company spokesperson says.
Expliseat is evaluating whether to set up a manufacturing facility in North America.
On the services side, “We are in advanced discussions with four MRO providers to establish a regional spares and maintenance support network by the end of 2025,” the company says. Those MRO providers in the U.S. and Canada offer maintenance, repair and distribution capabilities.
The French company opened a 6,000-m2 (64,580-ft.2) final assembly facility in Angers, in the Pays de la Loire region, in September 2024 that increased its production capability. It plans to deliver 10,000 seats from that facility in 2025.
Expliseat’s €50 million backlog includes about 20,000 seats. Airline customers include Air Canada, Air France, Falco, Jazeera Airways, Jettime, Nolinor and Porter.
Its lightweight narrowbody seat has the highest demand, but the company also manufacturers regional aircraft and turboprop seats. It says its TiSeat 2X is one of the lightest aircraft seats in the world.
The SPI fund managed by Bpifrance, along with Crédit Mutuel Innovation, Supernova Invest and Swen Capital, led the latest round of funding for the company.
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