Joby Aviation, one of the US eVTOL startups that is most advanced in its eVTOL development program, announced on October 2, 2024, that Japanese car maker Toyota is investing an additional $500 million into the venture.
Toyota has been an investor in Joby from an early stage, through its Toyota Ventures venture capital arm.
The additional funds raised will bring Toyota’s total investment in Joby Aviation to $894 million, consolidating the Japanese car maker’s position as the single largest shareholder in the eVTOL startup. This capital will help Joby get through the last two remaining stages of its certification process and start its commercial and industrial roll-out.
Toyota will disburse the investment in two equal tranches of $250 million, the first one before the end of 2024 and the other in 2025.
Interestingly, the agreement is not just financial. Toyota will also support Joby Aviation in scaling up its industrial activity, as it prepares to serially produce its eVTOL aircraft. At the moment, Joby is producing its aircraft at its headquarters located in Marina, California, but it is planning to move large-scale serial production of its eVTOL aircraft to a new greenfield plant in Dayton, Ohio.
