Joby launches $200M public offering ahead of 2025 commercial eVTOL release
Electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle startup Joby Aviation has launched a public offering to sell up to $200 million of its shares
Electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle startup Joby Aviation has launched a public offering to sell up to $200 million of its shares of common stock, per a regulatory filing.
Joby said it will use the proceeds from the raise — together with its existing cash — to fund its certification and manufacturing efforts, prepare for commercial launch in 2025, and for general working capital.
The eVTOL firm added that it intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an additional $30 million shares of its common stock.
Joby plans to launch air taxis for urban transportation next year in New York City and Los Angeles alongside partners Delta Air Lines and Uber, as well as in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The startup also has a $55 million contract with the Department of Defense.
Before Joby can launch, it will need to complete its type certification process to ensure the design of its aircraft meets required safety and airworthiness standards.
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Feds clear way for EVTOL startups to bring flying vehicles to U.S. airspace
Federal regulators have cleared the path for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft to share U.S. airspace with planes and helicopters -- a win}
Federal regulators have cleared the path for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft to share U.S. airspace with planes and helicopters — a win for the burgeoning industry and a timely decision for startups like Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation that are expected to launch air taxi networks commercially in 2025.
The Federal Aviation Administration published Tuesday its much-anticipated final ruling on the integration of “powered-lift” vehicles, a category the FAA revived two years ago to accommodate eVTOLs and one that describes aircraft that can take off and land like helicopters but then transition to forward flight like airplanes.
“Powered-lift aircraft are the first new category of aircraft in nearly 80 years and this historic rule will pave the way for accommodating wide-scale Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) operations in the future,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement. Whitaker announced the rule during the NBAA-Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Las Vegas.
The ruling also contains guidelines for pilot training and clarifies operating rules. For example, aside from a new type of powered-lift pilot certification, the ruling includes an expanded ability for operators to train and qualify pilots using flight simulation training devices.
The operating rules are tailored specifically to powered-lift vehicles and, as such, allow eVTOLs the flexibility to switch between helicopter and airplane rules as needed.
Joby, Archer, Beta Technologies, and Wisk Aero — which are building aircraft for urban air taxi networks, defense, cargo, and medical logistics — have worked closely with the FAA since 2022 to develop this new set of rules for training, operations, and maintenance.
“[The ruling] aligns with all the hopes that we had been designing for,” Greg Bowles, head of government affairs at Joby Aviation, told TechCrunch. “So the way that we’ve designed the operating system, the cockpit we’ve designed, the way we’ve designed for energy reserves, all align with the FAA rule.”
Toyota pours another $500M into electric air taxi startup Joby Aviation
Toyota is doubling down on Joby Aviation with a $500 million investment into the California-based company that's developing electric air taxis.
Toyota is doubling down on Joby Aviation with a $500 million investment into the California-based company that’s developing electric air taxis. Toyota’s total investment in Joby, which includes a $394 million capital injection back in 2020, is now $894 million.
The funds will be used to help Joby complete the lengthy Type 2 certification process with the Federal Aviation Administration and support commercial production of its electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Joby is in the fourth of five stages of the type certification and aims to launch a commercial air taxi business in 2025. The company also recently rolled its third aircraft off its pilot production line in Marina, California, and broke ground on an expanded facility in California that will more than double its manufacturing footprint.
The companies said the investment will be made in two equal tranches in the form of cash for common stock. The first amount is expected to close later this year and the second in 2025.
Joby, which was founded in 2009 by JoeBen Bevirt, has been working for more than a decade to develop, certify and produce an eVTOL aircraft that will be used as a commercial taxi service in cities. Joby has become more visible in the past five years as it made progress on its eVTOL development and made high-profile financial moves.
In 2020, Joby acquired Uber’s air taxi moonshot Elevate as part of a complex deal. Under the terms, Uber offloaded Elevate to Joby Aviation and invested $75 million into the startup. The two companies also expanded an existing partnership. A year later, Joby announced plans to become a public company through a merger with Reinvent Technology Partners, a special purpose acquisition company from well-known investor and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Zynga founder Mark Pincus.
Redefining Possible
Today, our team of more than 1500 passionate engineers, experts, and leaders, are all focused on bringing our pioneering vision to life. We’re developing a world-class manufacturing facility in Marina, CA and have offices and workshops in Santa Cruz, San Carlos, Washington, D.C., and Munich, Germany.
But it hasn’t always been like that.
The Beginning
Day and night, a small team of seven engineers worked out of “The Barn,” our workshop in the mountains above Santa Cruz. We explored the frontiers of technologies like electric motors, flight software, and lithium-ion batteries — engineering almost every component from the ground up.
NASA Partnership
Beginning in 2012, Joby was selected to collaborate with NASA on several groundbreaking electric flight projects, including the X-57 and LEAPTech.