Toyota’s first early-stage venture capital firm, Toyota AI Ventures, is to rebrand as Toyota Ventures.
The San Francisco Bay Area-based venture capital firm has also grown its total assets under management to more than $500m with the addition of two $150m early-stage funds.
They are the Toyota Ventures Frontier Fund and the Toyota Ventures Climate Fund.
Founded in 2017 as a subsidiary of Toyota Research Institute and led by Jim Adler, founding managing director, Toyota Ventures has invested in 38 companies in artificial intelligence, autonomy, cloud computing, data, mobility and robotics.
Through its Frontier Fund, Toyota Ventures will continue exploring those areas and will also expand the fund’s thesis to include smart cities, digital health, financial technologies, materials and energy.
In addition, as part of Toyota’s ongoing efforts to accelerate carbon dioxide reduction for the benefit of society and the planet, Toyota has established a new Climate Fund that the Toyota Ventures team will manage. The global fund will focus on finding and funding early-stage startups that develop innovative solutions for carbon neutrality.
FinSMEs
14/06/2021