Toyota To Invest an Additional $500 Million in Joby Aviation
Toyota’s new funding - which bring’s the company’s total funding in Joby to $894 million - will support certification and commercial production of Joby’s eVTOL air taxi.
(Toyota City, Japan and Santa Cruz, California) Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle developer Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE: JOBY) announced today that Toyota will invest an additional $500 million to support the certification and commercial production of Joby’s electric air taxi, bringing Toyota’s total investment in Joby to $894 million.
Photo of Toyota Motor Corporation Operating Officer Tetsuo “Ted” Ogawa and Joby Aviation’s Founder and CEO, JoeBen Bevirt shaking hands at a formal signing ceremony to mark Toyota’s $500M investment in Joby at Toyota’s North American regional headquarters in Plano, Texas. Courtesy of Toyota Motor Corporation.
Toyota’s investment will be made in two equal tranches, with the first targeted to close later this year and the second in 2025; the investment is subject to standard regulatory approvals and certain other conditions, finalization of collaborative and commercial agreements and, with respect to the second tranche, the finalization of terms related to a strategic alliance focused on commercial manufacturing and certain other conditions, according to today’s press release from Toyota.
The $500 million investment will be made in the form of cash for common stock.
“Today’s investment builds on nearly seven years of collaboration between our companies,” said Joby Aviation Founder and CEO JoeBen Bivert. “The knowledge and support shared by Toyota have been instrumental in Joby’s success and we look forward to deepening our relationship as we deliver on our shared vision for the future of air travel.”
Per Toyota, the company’s additional investment reflects the continued aim of Toyota Motor Corporation’s founding family – starting with Kiichiro Toyoda down to present-day Chairman Akio Toyoda – to realize the dream of air mobility for personal or daily travel as part of its transformation into a mobility company.
“With this additional investment, we are excited to see Joby certify their aircraft and shift to commercial production,” said Tetsuo “Ted” Ogawa, who signed the agreement as the Operating Officer on behalf of Toyota Motor Corporation. “We share Joby’s view that sustainable flight will be central to alleviating today’s persistent mobility challenges.”
Photo of a Joby-Toyota test flight, with Joby’s eVTOL in flight above the company’s manufacturing and flight testing center in Marina, California. Courtesy of Joby Aviation.
Toyota has been investing in Joby financially as well as via time and Human Resources since 2019 in order to share its knowledge of the Toyota Production System via process planning, manufacturing method development, and tooling design, according to today’s press release from Joby. Toyota engineers currently work side-by-side with the Joby team in California, and, in 2023, the two companies signed a long-term agreement for Toyota to supply key powertrain and actuation components for the production of Joby’s aircraft.
Toyota’s relationship with Joby was initiated with an investment made by Toyota Ventures, Toyota’s early-stage venture capital arm, and was subsequently expanded by additional investments from Toyota Motor Corporation totaling $394 million.
