Toyota is doubling down on Joby Aviation with a $500 million investment into the California-based company that’s developing electric air taxis. Toyota’s total investment in Joby, which includes a $394 million capital injection back in 2020, is now $894 million.
The funds will be used to help Joby complete the lengthy Type 2 certification process with the Federal Aviation Administration and support commercial production of its electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Joby is in the fourth of five stages of the type certification and aims to launch a commercial air taxi business in 2025. The company also recently rolled its third aircraft off its pilot production line in Marina, California, and broke ground on an expanded facility in California that will more than double its manufacturing footprint.
The companies said the investment will be made in two equal tranches in the form of cash for common stock. The first amount is expected to close later this year and the second in 2025.
Joby, which was founded in 2009 by JoeBen Bevirt, has been working for more than a decade to develop, certify and produce an eVTOL aircraft that will be used as a commercial taxi service in cities. Joby has become more visible in the past five years as it made progress on its eVTOL development and made high-profile financial moves.
In 2020, Joby acquired Uber’s air taxi moonshot Elevate as part of a complex deal. Under the terms, Uber offloaded Elevate to Joby Aviation and invested $75 million into the startup. The two companies also expanded an existing partnership. A year later, Joby announced plans to become a public company through a merger with Reinvent Technology Partners, a special purpose acquisition company from well-known investor and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Zynga founder Mark Pincus.
The company also gained a number of backers along the way — notably Toyota, which made its first investment into Joby via its the early-stage venture capital arm Toyota Ventures.
Toyota has invested more than just cash into Joby. Since 2019, the automaker has shared with Joby the inner workings of the Toyota Production System that covers the planning, developing a manfacturing method and tooling design. Toyota engineers now work side-by-side with the Joby team in California, according to the two companies. In 2023, the companies signed a long-term agreement for Toyota to supply key powertrain and actuation components for the production of Joby’s aircraft.
“Today’s investment builds on nearly seven years of collaboration between our companies,” Bevirt said in a statement. “The knowledge and support shared by Toyota has 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.”