Jill Ford, head of innovation and entrepreneurship for the US city of Detroit, has joined Toyota AI Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based corporate venturing subsidiary of Japan-based carmaker Toyota, as principal.
Ford had previously spent three years as the mayor of Detroit’s special adviser to identify, design and lead the implementation of initiatives to attract and grow startups and small businesses in the city.
Prior to the Detroit role, Ford had been an angel investor based in San Francisco and a venture partner for a social impact investing fund.
Ford has come on board as a principal to source new investment opportunities for the unit and work with the portfolio companies for the $100m fund the firm set up in July this year.
Formed as part of Toyota Research Institute (TRI), Toyota AI Ventures focuses on artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, autonomous mobility, data and cloud technologies that share TRI’s mission of improving the quality of human life through AI.
The fund’s most recent investment was in autonomous robotics and vehicle technology startup Realtime Robotics, which disclosed a $2m funding round last week.
Previous deals struck by the unit include Intuition Robotics, Nauto, SLAMcore and Connected Signals, a US-based connected vehicle data analytics startup that revealed in an August 2017 securities filing it has closed $1.5m of a $2.5m round.
Jim Adler, managing director of Toyota AI Ventures, said: “We are thrilled to have Jill join the Toyota AI Ventures team. She has an eye for talent and a strong understanding of what it takes to win that’s rooted in her diverse experience as an investor, business executive and innovator.”
Ford added: “I am excited to be a part of a team that will improve the quality of life through enabling entrepreneurs and innovation.”
– Photo of Jill Ford courtesy of LinkedIn