Toyota has announced a $500m investment in Joby Aviation, further increasing its stake in the air taxi start-up as part of a broader strategic partnership.
This move reinforces Toyota’s commitment to supporting Joby in the commercialization and manufacturing of its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, to launch commercial air taxi services as early as next year.
As Joby’s largest external shareholder, Toyota’s investment is aligned with its goal of advancing innovative transportation technologies.
The Founder and CEO of Joby Aviation, Joe Ben Bevirt expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating that the alliance with Toyota will help scale this new transportation model.
Founded in 2009, Joby Aviation went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021.
The California-based company is part of a competitive group of start-ups and established aerospace firms working to bring the concept of emission-free urban air mobility to life through the development of eVTOL aircraft.
Despite challenges faced by many in the sector—such as securing additional funding, achieving certification, and overcoming infrastructure and public acceptance hurdles—Joby remains one of the better-financed players. Before Toyota’s recent investment, the company had already raised over $2bn.
Joby has made significant progress, becoming the first eVTOL company to have its certification plans approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The company is now working toward full certification.
Bevirt also highlighted Joby’s plans to launch its first commercial service in Dubai next year. The company has already established a pilot production line in Marina, California, and aims to increase its production capacity to one vehicle per month by the end of the year.
“The new investment from Toyota, which will be in two tranches, builds on nearly seven years of collaboration between the two companies,” said Bevirt.
“It will take Toyota’s total commitment to close to $900m. The investment would increase Toyota’s stake in Joby, whose other backers include asset manager Baillie Gifford, to more than 20 per cent,” he added.
The start-up has been working with engineers from Toyota as part of an earlier agreement to improve its processes.
The car company has also been supplying components for some of Joby’s systems. Details of the wider manufacturing alliance would be released later date, Bevirt said.
Toyota’s investment is part of the carmaker’s wider strategy of betting on multiple technologies and its belief that it will need to provide consumers with an array of cars at various price points.
As part of that bet, the world’s largest carmaker by sales is investing in core technologies — such as electric vehicles, hydrogen cars and next-generation internal combustion engines for hybrids — as well as initiatives such as air taxis, through Joby.
“Air mobility has the potential to significantly change the way people move and live in the future mobility society, and its commercialisation has been one of Toyota’s dreams since its founding,” the company said.
Toyota also has a long history of investment and research in aeronautics, going back to its founder, Sakichi Toyoda, who offered a ¥1mn price in 1925 for anyone who could invent a storage battery that could power long-range cars and aeroplanes.