Joby Aviation (Marina), a flying taxi start-up based in Santa Cruz, California, has raised USD590 million in Series C funding led by Toyota Motor Corporation, it said in a statement dated January 15. Toyota itself contributed USD394 million of this amount.
Founded in 2009, Joby has been developing and commercialising a four-passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for urban transport services. This latest investment brings its total funding, including previous rounds, to USD720 million.
The aircraft is capable of speeds of 200mph (320km/h) and can fly over 150 miles (240 kilometres) on a single charge, according to Joby. It is 100 times quieter than conventional aircraft during takeoff and landing, and near-silent when flying overhead.
Toyota aims to provide manufacturing and electrification technologies to achieve mass production, while Shigeki Tomoyama, executive vice president of the Japanese automotive manufacturer, will join Joby's board of directors.
“Joby Aviation’s mission is to bring fast, affordable, and zero-emissions air mobility to communities worldwide,” the start-up said in its statement. “This support, along with the capital investment, will accelerate the certification and deployment of this new mode of local transportation.”
Toyota President and CEO Akio Toyoda said that “air transportation has been a long-term goal for Toyota,” adding that by working with Joby in the emerging eVTOL space, “we tap the potential to revolutionise future transportation and life.”
The move came a week after Uber and Hyundai unveiled a three-passenger electric flying taxi at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the first prototype of which is expected to be ready in 2023. Boeing's flying car prototype made its first autonomous flight in 2019, while Google co-founder Larry Page has invested in several smaller start-ups developing flying car technologies including Kitty Hawk and Opener. JetBlue Airways Technology Ventures has also invested in a number of start-ups including Joby Aviation and Zunum Aero (Seattle Tacoma International), another company working on fully electric small aircraft.
