Participated · Equity · Feb 2026

Rapidus was founded in August 2022 and is led by CEO Atsuyoshi Koike. The company is developing advanced logic chip manufacturing at its IIM-1 facility in Chitose, Hokkaido, with plans to begin 2nm mass production by fiscal 2027. Rapidus works with IBM on process development and with IMEC in Belgium on broader R&D, and NEDO is involved in design projects alongside Fujitsu and IBM Japan. It was initially backed by eight major Japanese companies — Toyota, Sony, NTT, NEC, SoftBank, Denso, Kioxia, and MUFG — and early confirmed customers include Fujitsu and Tenstorrent. The government has become a major backer through sizeable R&D support and a February 2026 investment that left it with 11.5% of voting rights and a golden share veto. Rapidus is positioning itself as an alternative foundry offering small-volume, quick-turnaround services, but faces challenges securing steady customer orders and improving yields given competitors like TSMC and Samsung began 2nm volume production in 2025.

Participated · Series C · Nov 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 · Equity · Feb 2020

Pony.ai develops autonomous driving systems and partners with automakers to deploy vehicle autonomy. Founded in 2016 and based in the US and China, the company works with Toyota, GAC, SAIC Group, Sany Heavy Industry and FAW Group. Pony.ai has registered with the China Securities Regulatory Commission for a US IPO and plans to issue up to 98.15 million ordinary shares on Nasdaq or the NYSE. Its most recently disclosed financing was a $100M investment from Neom in October 2023; the post‑money valuation from that round was undisclosed. The firm was valued at $8.5 billion after its March 2022 Series D. GAC's recent board approval to invest $27M in Pony.ai (part of a combined $104.8M allocation to Pony.ai and Chenzhi) indicates continued strategic interest from Chinese automakers. Pony.ai is a Chinese autonomous vehicle startup that develops autonomous driving technology. The company operates fully driverless vehicles in Beijing and Guangzhou and holds licenses to operate driverless cars in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Pony.ai plans to establish a regional R&D and manufacturing headquarters as part of a joint venture with Neom. Under the JV, Pony.ai and Neom will develop, manufacture and deploy autonomous vehicles and smart infrastructure in Neom and key markets in the Middle East and North Africa. Pony.ai received $100 million from Neom as part of the deal. The tie-up comes amid increasing cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Chinese companies around technology and scientific innovation. Pony.ai develops autonomous-driving software and a robotaxi network platform to deploy fully driverless robotaxis. The company plans to scale commercial robotaxi operations in China through a partnership with Toyota and a capital infusion. Toyota will supply an unspecified number of EVs and Pony.ai will outfit them with its autonomy stack and network technology. Pony.ai has raised more than $1 billion since its 2016 founding and claimed an $8.5 billion valuation in 2022. The company has faced regulatory and operational setbacks, including a suspended California driverless testing permit, a software recall, executive departures, and litigation over alleged trade‑secret theft. Despite those challenges, Pony.ai and Toyota intend to begin their partnership this year to accelerate production of driverless robotaxis. Pony.ai develops autonomous driving systems for robotaxis and trucking, operating tests and limited passenger pilots in both China and the U.S. The company was founded in 2016 and now has a global team of over 1,000 staff. Pony runs tests in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen as well as Fremont and Irvine, California, and its robotaxis have been allowed to charge passengers in a pilot zone in suburban Beijing. The firm has faced operational and regulatory setbacks, including a suspended driverless test permit in California and a reorganization that dissolved its U.S. trucking unit. Financially, Pony said it is well‑financed and, after a Series D-1, has close to $1 billion in balance sheet liquidity. Management says proceeds will be used to expand hiring, open new testing and operation sites, advance strategic partnerships and rapidly grow its fleet. Pony.ai develops a full-stack autonomous driving platform (PonyAlpha) that uses lidars, radars, and cameras to detect obstacles up to 200 meters for robo-taxis, trucks, and freight delivery. The company has tested its systems since April 2019 and runs test vehicles in Fremont, California and Beijing and Guangzhou in China. Pony.ai aims to deploy level 4 vehicles in predictable environments—industrial parks, college campuses, and small towns—with a tentative deployment window of several years. It has driven over 1.5 million autonomous kilometers as of year-end 2019 and delivered more than 15,000 packages in California during the COVID-19 crisis. Pony.ai holds an autonomous vehicle testing license in Beijing and a robo-taxi operations permit from the California Public Utilities Commission. It maintains partnerships and pilots with Via and Hyundai (BotRide), Bosch (fleet maintenance), FAW and GAC Group (vehicle development), and On Semiconductor (machine vision).

Led · Series C · Jan 2020

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 · Equity · Jul 2019

Didi Autonomous Driving is the self-driving arm of ride-hailing giant Didi that focuses on Level-4 autonomous vehicle technology and related AI systems. The company has spent nearly a decade building expertise in artificial intelligence, mass production, and large-scale operations for autonomous mobility. In 2025 it began full-scenario, fully unmanned road testing in Beijing and Guangzhou, with vehicles operating smoothly during rush hours, late nights, and heavy rain. A next-generation pre-installed autonomous vehicle, co-developed with GAC Aion, is scheduled for delivery by late 2025, after which Didi plans demonstration applications in both cities. The firm believes L4 autonomy will dramatically improve transportation safety, efficiency, and user experience while opening new employment opportunities. Fresh capital from its recent Series D round will be channelled into AI R&D and the accelerated rollout of L4 services. No revenue, user, or other operating metrics were disclosed in the announcement.