Investment · Aviation / Mobility
Toyota leads $590 million round in air-taxi maker Joby Aviation with $394 million
- Investor
- Toyota Motor (Toyota City, Aichi)
- In
- Joby Aviation, Santa Cruz, California
- Value
- $394M
- Status
- Completed. Toyota added another $500 million in 2024, taking its total to $894 million.
- Date
- 2020-01-15
Toyota put $394 million into Joby Aviation, leading a $590 million Series C round for the developer of an all-electric air taxi that takes off and lands vertically. Toyota executive vice president Shigeki Tomoyama joined Joby's board, and the two companies agreed to work together on manufacturing, quality and cost control. The round brought Joby's total funding to $720 million.
Why it matters
It was Toyota's largest bet on flying cars and one of the biggest single investments in an eVTOL startup at the time. Toyota brought factory know-how that young aircraft makers lack.
Working side by side
The money came with people. From 2019, Toyota engineers worked with Joby's team in California on process planning, manufacturing methods and tooling design, using the Toyota Production System. In 2023 Toyota also agreed to supply key powertrain and actuation parts for the aircraft.
What came next
JoeBen Bevirt founded Joby in 2009 in Santa Cruz, California. It went public in 2021 by merging with a blank-check company and now trades on the New York Stock Exchange.
Sources
Kakehashi M&A News home
