Led · Seed · Jul 2026

Walden Robotics develops and deploys general-purpose robots powered by Large Behavior Models and other Physical AI advances to perform useful work in manufacturing, logistics, and other industries. Founded in 2026 and launched out of Toyota Research Institute, the company combines foundational robotics research with in-house operations teams to bring robots into production environments. Walden reports that its robots have been operating in production at a Toyota plant in North America since February, progressing from pilot to real work in under two months. The company has strategic partnerships across automotive, aerospace, semiconductors, electronics, logistics, and life sciences and emphasizes human-centered deployment where robots work side-by-side with people. Walden’s stated plans center on scaling commercial deployments and continuous on-the-job learning to improve capabilities over time. Financially, the company announced a $300 million seed round at a $1.1 billion valuation led by Toyota and Deviation Capital, providing capital to support its launch and customer expansion.

Led · Equity · Jan 2025

Interstellar Technologies is a Japanese launch-vehicle company focused on building Zero, a two-stage, methane/liquid oxygen rocket designed to place up to 1,000 kg into low Earth orbit. The firm targets Zero’s maiden flight in 2027 and has already signed eight payload customers from Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States for that launch. Prior to Zero, Interstellar flew the Momo suborbital rocket seven times between 2017 and 2021, achieving three successful flights. Beyond launch, the company is advancing a formation-flying satellite system meant to create a phased-array antenna for direct-to-device communications. Financially, Interstellar has now raised a total of ¥44.6 billion after closing a ¥20.1 billion Series F round in January. The new capital will fund continued Zero development, scale up manufacturing, and support the communications satellite initiative.

Led · Equity · Oct 2024

Joby Aviation builds eVTOL aircraft intended for commercial air taxi service in urban areas. The company is in the fourth of five stages of the FAA Type 2 certification process and aims to launch a commercial business in 2025. Joby recently rolled its third aircraft off a pilot production line in Marina, California, and broke ground on an expanded facility to more than double its manufacturing footprint. The company was founded in 2009 by JoeBen Bevirt and became more visible after acquiring Uber’s Elevate program and later announcing a SPAC deal to go public with Reinvent Technology Partners. Toyota has been a long-term partner, sharing the Toyota Production System and embedding engineers with Joby, and in 2023 signed a long-term agreement to supply key powertrain and actuation components. The new capital is intended to support completion of certification and commercial production efforts. Joby Aviation develops electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and plans to operate short urban and airport air‑taxi services using shared five‑seat vehicles. The company secured an FAA Part 135 Air Carrier certificate allowing on‑demand commercial air taxi operations, but still must obtain Type Certification for its aircraft and Production Certification for its facilities before full launch. Joby has partnerships to support vertiport access, including Reef Technologies for parking‑garage conversions and initial plans to tap existing helipads in New York and Los Angeles for the Delta service. It also has a booking integration with Uber that can surface Joby rides in the Uber app. Joby is pursuing commercialization through operator partnerships (notably Delta) to address infrastructure and airport integration hurdles. The article also notes Joby’s defense contracting activity expanded to include the U.S. Marines under its U.S. Air Force contract. Joby Aviation is building an all-electric, vertical take-off-and-landing passenger aircraft aimed at commercial air‑taxi service. The company was an early vehicle partner for Uber’s Elevate initiative and was the first partner to commit to deploying services by 2023. Under the announced deal Joby is acquiring Uber Elevate’s assets, including team members and software tools, to accelerate its path to commercial launch. As part of the transaction Uber is investing $75 million in Joby, in addition to a previously undisclosed $50 million that Uber put in as part of Joby’s January 2020 Series C. Joby raised $590 million led by Toyota to launch its electric air‑taxi service and has raised $820 million to date. The companies agreed to integrate their respective services into each other’s apps, and the deal is expected to close in early 2021. Joby Aviation is developing in-house piloted eVTOL aircraft designed for an electric air taxi service, targeting city-based short-hop transit for people and cargo. Its production prototype can fly up to 200 miles per hour for over 150 miles on a single charge and is described as roughly 100 times quieter than conventional aircraft during takeoff and landing. Joby has completed sub-scale testing and begun full flight tests of production prototypes, and it started the FAA certification process at the end of 2018. The company aims to achieve cost advantages versus traditional helicopters through higher utilization and electric drivetrain savings, ultimately making short aerial flights more accessible. Joby is working with strategic partner Toyota to leverage the automaker’s vehicle manufacturing experience as it scales production. The company was founded in 2009 by JoeBen Bevirt and is based in Santa Cruz, California. Joby Aviation is developing a fully electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) passenger aircraft: a near-silent 5-seat vehicle that can fly 150 miles on a charge. The company plans to use new funding to advance the aircraft to pre-production and certification. It will expand its team with hires in structural engineering, electrical engineering, power electronics, battery electrochemistry, certification, flight controls, and software. The company has raised more than $130M in total funding following the latest round. Joby was founded in 2009 by CEO JoeBen Bevirt and maintains offices in Santa Cruz and Redwood City, California. The new capital is intended to accelerate development toward air-transportation-as-a-service.

Led · Series C · Mar 2021

Momenta is a Suzhou-based autonomous driving company founded in 2016 that offers a single software and sensor architecture usable in both Level-2 driver-assistance and Level-4 robotaxi scenarios. Instead of retrofitting special vehicles, the firm repurposes mass-produced cars, lowering deployment costs and speeding up commercialization. Its technology is being integrated into production models from Mercedes-Benz and BMW, and the company operates across China, Germany, Japan, and the United States. Momenta is pushing toward commercial robotaxi fleet operations and recently forged ride-hailing partnerships with Uber and Grab to serve dense urban markets. Strategic investors already include SAIC Motor, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Bosch, and now Grab. Although no revenue or user figures are public, the breadth of its global OEM and mobility partners points to growing commercial traction. The company aims to accelerate large-scale autonomous driving adoption in Southeast Asia and other international markets.

Led · Series B · Dec 2019

May Mobility develops and sells autonomous vehicle systems—specifically retrofitted Toyota Sienna minivans—on geofenced routes under multi-year, multi-million-dollar contracts with cities. The company focuses on B2B deployments in mid-size municipalities rather than large-scale robotaxi rollouts, which it says enables earlier path to profitability and lower burn. May Mobility has announced deployments or deals in Ann Arbor (its HQ), Arlington, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Sun City and plans to enter Contra Costa County by early 2024, with Southeast expansion expected. Management says as AV tech advances and costs fall, the company intends to expand into other segments such as trucking, logistics and robotaxis. Financially, May Mobility has raised roughly $300 million to date, including a $105 million financing announced this week, and counts Toyota and BMW among strategic backers. May Mobility develops low-speed autonomous shuttles and vehicle platforms (including modified Toyota Sienna S-AM vehicles) for public-transportation augmentation and ride-hail use. The company currently operates vehicles in five cities — Arlington, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Fishers and Hiroshima — and has about 20 S-AMs in its fleet, most in Ann Arbor. May is working with partners including Toyota, SoftBank and MONET Technologies and has begun development work to integrate its kit onto Toyota’s e-Palette platform. The startup recently completed AV pilots (for example at Hiroshima University) and plans further trials in Tokyo’s Takeshiba district. May says it will use new funding to triple corporate headcount (particularly engineering), expand U.S. and Japan deployments, and pursue driver-out operations in 2023. Its total disclosed funding to date is $194 million. May Mobility develops and operates autonomous low-speed shuttle services, with deployments in Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Providence, Rhode Island. The company currently runs 25 autonomous shuttles across those three cities and plans to expand to roughly 25 vehicles per city to improve economics and impact. Founded in 2017, May Mobility positions itself in the transportation-as-a-service space with local shuttle fleets. The startup raised $50 million in a Series B led by Toyota, following a $22 million raise less than a year earlier. The new capital will be used to expand its AV shuttle fleet and to grow engineering and operations staff. May is working with Toyota as one of its autonomous driving providers for future open platforms and will explore pairing its technology with Toyota's e-Palette platform. May Mobility operates full-stack, low-speed autonomous vehicle fleets and provides daily public transit services for public and private customers. Its solution combines vehicle hardware and software, expert fleet operations, and a cloud-based business insights platform that monitors fleet health and ridership analytics. The company targets the $28B U.S. last-mile transportation market and currently operates commercial services in downtown Detroit, MI and Columbus, OH, with planned launches in Grand Rapids, MI and Providence, RI and additional U.S. deployments in 2019. May’s fleet has provided more than 35,000 rides in Columbus and Detroit, and the company reports it is generating revenue while collecting technical and market data. The business emphasizes scalable operations and real-world data collection to improve its technology with each mile driven. The company works with transit agencies, developers, and other partners to design and operate dependable shared mobility services. May Mobility develops and operates self-driving small shuttle fleets intended to replace existing transportation options for corporate and other clients. The company focuses on practical, route-defined autonomous solutions using currently available technology and manages fleets end-to-end, including vehicle maintenance and daily operation. Its team includes DARPA Urban Challenge participants and veterans from Ford, GM, Toyota and the University of Michigan’s automotive programs. May ran a pilot with Detroit-based Bedrock in October that the company says demonstrated its technology and service readiness. The company raised $11.5 million in seed funding and plans to use the proceeds to hire additional employees and expand coverage to more U.S. cities by the end of 2018. It intends to launch its first commercial operations later in 2018.