Toyota Research Institute – Advanced Development, (TRI-AD) said it would create Woven Capital, a US$800m global growth stage investment fund, to support its vision 'Mobility to Love, Safety to Live'.
Last 28 July, TRI-AD had said it would form a new holding company called Woven Planet Holdings to begin operations in January 2021.
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Woven Capital would be part of the new Woven Planet Holdings Group, and would support the group with "investments in growth stage companies that are developing innovative technology and business models in areas such as autonomous mobility, automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data and analytics, connectivity, and smart cities".
In addition to sourcing deals from Toyota AI Ventures, Toyota's early stage venture capital fund, Woven Capital would also invest in other venture capital funds in order to broaden and accelerate its global coverage.
"With diverse projects such as Arene, the automated mapping platform, and Woven City, the Woven Planet Holdings Group has set ambitious goals for itself, and we will need a variety of partners and technologies to achieve those goals," said James Kuffner, CEO of TRI-AD. "Woven Capital's investments will enable us to weave together a global portfolio of partners and technologies that will deliver long term value to our customers, stakeholders, and society. Woven Capital will also enable us to make growth-stage investments in companies in the Toyota AI Ventures portfolio as they look to raise additional capital."
Woven Capital also will begin operations in January 2021.
