Toyota Ventures

Toyota Ventures is a San Francisco Bay Area-based venture capital firm founded in 2017. It invests globally in early-stage startups focusing on disruptive technologies and business models, with a mission to drive innovation for Toyota. The firm manages over $500 million across funds like the Frontier Fund (AI, cloud computing, autonomy, mobility, robotics, smart cities, digital health, fintech, materials, energy) and the Climate Fund (innovative carbon neutrality solutions).

Chris Abshire

Senior Associate

Jim Adler

Managing Director

Lisa Coca

Partner, Climate. Fund

Erin Keller

Associate

Nihal Maunder

Analyst

Past deals in Automotive

River

Series B in 2024
River is an electric vehicle manufacturer focused on enhancing livelihoods through its products. The company specializes in producing high-quality mobility motor vehicles, specifically utility electric mopeds. These vehicles are designed to be economical and versatile, catering to a variety of needs including work, recreation, and everyday tasks. By offering affordable options, River aims to provide customers with reliable transportation solutions that facilitate both productivity and leisure.

May Mobility

Series D in 2023
May Mobility, Inc. is an autonomous vehicle company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, founded in 2017. The company specializes in developing and deploying autonomous vehicle technology to enhance public transportation systems. May Mobility operates a fleet of six-passenger electric shuttles that navigate through traffic using mapped and closed-loop routes. By analyzing city traffic and commuter patterns, the company identifies bottlenecks and optimizes transit routes for various communities. Its services aim to reduce human error in driving, lower pollution levels, and provide economic benefits to both communities and riders. Through its innovative approach, May Mobility seeks to create a safer, greener, and more efficient transportation environment.

River

Series B in 2023
River is an electric vehicle manufacturer focused on enhancing livelihoods through its products. The company specializes in producing high-quality mobility motor vehicles, specifically utility electric mopeds. These vehicles are designed to be economical and versatile, catering to a variety of needs including work, recreation, and everyday tasks. By offering affordable options, River aims to provide customers with reliable transportation solutions that facilitate both productivity and leisure.

Zeti

Seed Round in 2022
Zeti is a digital financing platform that connects operators of business-critical vehicle fleets with institutional funders to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission transport. Positioned at the intersection of fintech, mobility, and sustainability, the platform funds electric vehicles and related infrastructure and provides real-time data and analytics to support flexible, risk-adjusted financing and value-added insights. Founded in 2020 and based in London, Zeti enables fleet operators to scale clean mobility by aligning financing with operational needs.

River

Series A in 2022
River is an electric vehicle manufacturer focused on enhancing livelihoods through its products. The company specializes in producing high-quality mobility motor vehicles, specifically utility electric mopeds. These vehicles are designed to be economical and versatile, catering to a variety of needs including work, recreation, and everyday tasks. By offering affordable options, River aims to provide customers with reliable transportation solutions that facilitate both productivity and leisure.

Revel

Series B in 2022
Revel is a company dedicated to accelerating electric vehicle (EV) adoption in urban areas through its all-electric rideshare service and network of fast-charging stations. The company operates a fleet of easily recognizable blue electric vehicles, providing a cleaner, safer, and more affordable rideshare experience. Revel places a strong emphasis on safety and cleanliness, utilizing vetted drivers and regularly detailed cars to ensure high service standards. Additionally, Revel offers electric mopeds that can be booked through a mobile application, allowing users to locate the nearest moped and start their ride conveniently. This combination of rideshare services and charging infrastructure positions Revel as a key player in promoting sustainable transportation solutions.

May Mobility

Series C in 2022
May Mobility, Inc. is an autonomous vehicle company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, founded in 2017. The company specializes in developing and deploying autonomous vehicle technology to enhance public transportation systems. May Mobility operates a fleet of six-passenger electric shuttles that navigate through traffic using mapped and closed-loop routes. By analyzing city traffic and commuter patterns, the company identifies bottlenecks and optimizes transit routes for various communities. Its services aim to reduce human error in driving, lower pollution levels, and provide economic benefits to both communities and riders. Through its innovative approach, May Mobility seeks to create a safer, greener, and more efficient transportation environment.

Elementary Robotics

Series B in 2021
Elementary Robotics, Inc. is a Pasadena, California-based company that specializes in the manufacture of robots designed to assist humans in various industrial applications. Founded in 2017, Elementary Robotics focuses on automating quality assurance and traceability processes within AI-assisted manufacturing. Their robots are utilized to monitor and track the stages of assembly along production lines, serving diverse sectors such as electronics, automotive, medical, consumer packaged goods, and logistics. The company combines hardware and software to create a robust platform that leverages machine learning and computer vision, enabling intelligent automation of workflows. By providing easy-to-use software and deep learning AI, Elementary Robotics aims to enhance efficiency and productivity in repetitive tasks across various industries.

Recogni

Series B in 2021
Founded in 2017, Recogni specializes in developing AI-based inference processing solutions. It offers high-performance, low-power processors for generative AI and intelligent autonomous platforms, serving automotive industries in Germany and the US.

Bipi

Series B in 2020
Bipi is a Madrid-based startup founded in 2017 by Hans Christ and Alejandro Vigaray. It offers consumers a flexible car subscription service as an alternative to traditional ownership. Through its digital platform, users can book, subscribe, swap, or cancel their subscriptions to new and used cars at any time, with a single, all-inclusive monthly payment covering the vehicle, insurance, maintenance, and roadside assistance. This model provides customers with convenient access to cars without the long-term commitment of ownership.

Elementary Robotics

Series A in 2020
Elementary Robotics, Inc. is a Pasadena, California-based company that specializes in the manufacture of robots designed to assist humans in various industrial applications. Founded in 2017, Elementary Robotics focuses on automating quality assurance and traceability processes within AI-assisted manufacturing. Their robots are utilized to monitor and track the stages of assembly along production lines, serving diverse sectors such as electronics, automotive, medical, consumer packaged goods, and logistics. The company combines hardware and software to create a robust platform that leverages machine learning and computer vision, enabling intelligent automation of workflows. By providing easy-to-use software and deep learning AI, Elementary Robotics aims to enhance efficiency and productivity in repetitive tasks across various industries.

Drishti

Series B in 2020
Drishti Technologies, Inc. specializes in artificial intelligence-based computer vision solutions aimed at enhancing visual inspections within manufacturing processes. Established in 2016 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, with an additional office in Bengaluru, India, the company offers a software-as-a-service product that delivers video analytics and traceability for manual assembly lines. This technology allows for non-intrusive, real-time observation of human actions, thereby improving productivity, quality, and employee training. Drishti's solutions are particularly beneficial for the electronics and automotive sectors, as they help identify flaws and enhance operational efficiency. The company also emphasizes training through AI and video, enabling the development of skilled workers and the identification of high-performing employees who contribute innovative solutions to standardized processes.

Apex.AI

Venture Round in 2019
Apex.AI develops software for autonomous mobility, offering a framework and tools that simplify the development of safe and secure autonomous driving applications. Its platform includes Apex.OS, which abstracts hardware, middleware, kernels, interfaces, and drivers into usable APIs, and Apex.Autonomy for safety-critical applications. It also offers MARV.Automotive, a data management platform that transfers vehicle data to the cloud, enables dynamic search-based analytics, analyzes partial logs, runs algorithms on real data, and provides graphical data introspection and team collaboration. Founded in 2017 and based in Palo Alto, California, Apex.AI builds on open-source software such as ROS and Eclipse iceoryx to provide building blocks for developers creating AI and safety-critical software for autonomous vehicles.

Revel

Series A in 2019
Revel is a company dedicated to accelerating electric vehicle (EV) adoption in urban areas through its all-electric rideshare service and network of fast-charging stations. The company operates a fleet of easily recognizable blue electric vehicles, providing a cleaner, safer, and more affordable rideshare experience. Revel places a strong emphasis on safety and cleanliness, utilizing vetted drivers and regularly detailed cars to ensure high service standards. Additionally, Revel offers electric mopeds that can be booked through a mobile application, allowing users to locate the nearest moped and start their ride conveniently. This combination of rideshare services and charging infrastructure positions Revel as a key player in promoting sustainable transportation solutions.

Autobrains

Series B in 2019
Autobrains develops a visual intelligence platform for safer autonomous driving. Its technology, backed by over 200 patents, uses signature-based representation structures and unsupervised learning to understand vehicle environments comprehensively.

Recogni

Series A in 2019
Founded in 2017, Recogni specializes in developing AI-based inference processing solutions. It offers high-performance, low-power processors for generative AI and intelligent autonomous platforms, serving automotive industries in Germany and the US.

Connected Signals

Venture Round in 2019
Connected Signals, Inc. is a technology company based in Eugene, Oregon, focused on enhancing the interaction between vehicles and traffic signals through its cloud-based platform. Established in 2013, the company specializes in Transit Signal Priority (TSP) systems that optimize traffic flow for buses, emergency vehicles, and pedestrians by adjusting traffic signal timings to reduce travel times. Their flagship application, EnLighten, provides drivers with real-time information about traffic light changes, improving safety and driving experience by minimizing distractions. Connected Signals leverages existing traffic signal infrastructure to gather and analyze data, allowing for predictive modeling of signal states without necessitating costly hardware upgrades. The company's innovative approach aims to increase driving safety, enhance fuel efficiency, and alleviate driver stress by providing consistent and actionable traffic signal data to municipalities, automakers, and local traffic agencies.

May Mobility

Series A in 2019
May Mobility, Inc. is an autonomous vehicle company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, founded in 2017. The company specializes in developing and deploying autonomous vehicle technology to enhance public transportation systems. May Mobility operates a fleet of six-passenger electric shuttles that navigate through traffic using mapped and closed-loop routes. By analyzing city traffic and commuter patterns, the company identifies bottlenecks and optimizes transit routes for various communities. Its services aim to reduce human error in driving, lower pollution levels, and provide economic benefits to both communities and riders. Through its innovative approach, May Mobility seeks to create a safer, greener, and more efficient transportation environment.

Elementary Robotics

Seed Round in 2018
Elementary Robotics, Inc. is a Pasadena, California-based company that specializes in the manufacture of robots designed to assist humans in various industrial applications. Founded in 2017, Elementary Robotics focuses on automating quality assurance and traceability processes within AI-assisted manufacturing. Their robots are utilized to monitor and track the stages of assembly along production lines, serving diverse sectors such as electronics, automotive, medical, consumer packaged goods, and logistics. The company combines hardware and software to create a robust platform that leverages machine learning and computer vision, enabling intelligent automation of workflows. By providing easy-to-use software and deep learning AI, Elementary Robotics aims to enhance efficiency and productivity in repetitive tasks across various industries.

Apex.AI

Series A in 2018
Apex.AI develops software for autonomous mobility, offering a framework and tools that simplify the development of safe and secure autonomous driving applications. Its platform includes Apex.OS, which abstracts hardware, middleware, kernels, interfaces, and drivers into usable APIs, and Apex.Autonomy for safety-critical applications. It also offers MARV.Automotive, a data management platform that transfers vehicle data to the cloud, enables dynamic search-based analytics, analyzes partial logs, runs algorithms on real data, and provides graphical data introspection and team collaboration. Founded in 2017 and based in Palo Alto, California, Apex.AI builds on open-source software such as ROS and Eclipse iceoryx to provide building blocks for developers creating AI and safety-critical software for autonomous vehicles.

Perceptive Automata

Series A in 2018
Perceptive Automata, Inc. is a technology company specializing in machine learning and computer vision solutions aimed at predicting human behavior in the context of automated driving. Founded in 2014 and located in Somerville, Massachusetts, the company addresses the complex challenges associated with the safe deployment of highly automated and fully autonomous vehicles, particularly in urban settings. Its advanced AI inference models allow vehicles to anticipate the actions of pedestrians, cyclists, and other drivers, enhancing safety and enabling smoother navigation in human-dominated environments. By integrating its software into autonomous driving systems, Perceptive Automata facilitates a more natural driving experience, which is crucial for the acceptance of autonomous vehicles and robotaxi services. The company's team comprises experts from prestigious institutions such as Harvard, MIT, and Stanford, reflecting a strong foundation in neuroscience and artificial intelligence.

Metawave

Venture Round in 2018
Metawave Corporation is a technology company based in Palo Alto, California, specializing in the development of advanced beamsteering radars using metamaterials and artificial intelligence. Founded in 2017, the company primarily serves the automotive industry, offering innovative solutions for safe automated driving. Its flagship product, SPEKTRA, is designed to enhance safety for automakers by providing high-performance radar capabilities for 3D imaging and vehicle-to-vehicle communications. Additionally, Metawave develops TURBO active repeaters to extend signal coverage in difficult environments, as well as ECHO passive reflectors to optimize signal direction in areas with lower coverage. The company also offers AWARE, an AI platform that leverages deep learning to extract valuable information from radar signals. In parallel, Metawave is working on smart beamsteering antennas to improve 4G and 5G networks, aiming to enhance connectivity for billions of users.

Blackmore Sensors and Analytics

Series B in 2018
Blackmore Sensors and Analytics Inc. specializes in frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) Lidar technology, providing advanced imaging and analytic tools designed to measure radial velocity at every data point. Founded in 2016 and based in Bozeman, Montana, the company focuses on enhancing the capabilities of Lidar systems through innovative software solutions. As of May 2019, Blackmore operates as a subsidiary of Aurora Innovation, Inc., expanding its reach and technological expertise in the field of sensor analytics and autonomous vehicle applications.

May Mobility

Seed Round in 2018
May Mobility, Inc. is an autonomous vehicle company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, founded in 2017. The company specializes in developing and deploying autonomous vehicle technology to enhance public transportation systems. May Mobility operates a fleet of six-passenger electric shuttles that navigate through traffic using mapped and closed-loop routes. By analyzing city traffic and commuter patterns, the company identifies bottlenecks and optimizes transit routes for various communities. Its services aim to reduce human error in driving, lower pollution levels, and provide economic benefits to both communities and riders. Through its innovative approach, May Mobility seeks to create a safer, greener, and more efficient transportation environment.

Nauto

Series B in 2017
Nauto is an AI technology company that improves commercial fleet safety through its intelligent driver safety system. This system assesses driver behavior to reduce distracted driving and prevent collisions, enabling real-time feedback and analysis for fleet managers. Nauto's platform also powers the development of autonomous vehicle technology.

Nauto

Series A in 2016
Nauto is an AI technology company that improves commercial fleet safety through its intelligent driver safety system. This system assesses driver behavior to reduce distracted driving and prevent collisions, enabling real-time feedback and analysis for fleet managers. Nauto's platform also powers the development of autonomous vehicle technology.
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