Automotive manufacturer Toyota Motor Corporation led a $590m series C round for US-based airborne taxi developer Joby Aviation yesterday with an investment sized at $394m according to Bloomberg.
The round also featured Toyota’s strategic investment vehicle, Toyota AI Ventures, as well as Intel Capital and JetBlue Technology Ventures, investing on behalf of semiconductor and data technology producer Intel and airline operator JetBlue respectively.
Asset manager Sparx Group, investment firm Capricorn Investment Group, venture capital firm AME Cloud Ventures, investment management firm Baillie Gifford and family office Global Oryx filled out the round’s participants.
Joby is working on a five-seat vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle that will be able to carry passengers short distances in urban areas. It will be electric-powered and is expected to be able to travel some 240 kilometres on a single charge.
Shigeki Tomoyama, an executive vice-president at Toyota, will join the company’s board of directors in conjunction with the round, which Joby said lifted its overall funding to $720m since it was founded in 2009. Toyota will also provide advice on manufacturing, cost and quality control.
Akio Toyoda, president and chief executive of Toyota, said: “Air transportation has been a long-term goal for Toyota, and while we continue our work in the automobile business, this agreement sets our sights to the sky.
“As we take up the challenge of air transportation together with Joby, an innovator in the emerging eVTOL space, we tap the potential to revolutionise future transportation and life. Through this new and exciting endeavour, we hope to deliver freedom of movement and enjoyment to customers everywhere, on land, and now, in the sky.”
Joby secured $100m in an Intel Capital-led series B round in early 2018 that included Toyota AI Ventures, JetBlue Technology Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group, EDBI, Allen & Company, 8VC, Ron Conway, Sky Dayton and Paul Sciarra.
Capricorn Investment Group had led the company’s $30m series A round two years before, funding that was disclosed at the same time as the series B.
Image courtesy of Joby Aviation.
