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Toyota’s mobility subsidiary will invest $44.3 million in a Japanese rocket company.
Interstellar Technologies (IST) is expected to receive Woven by Toyota’s multimillion-dollar investment “by the first close” of its Series F fundraising, the rocket company announced Tuesday. He also announced a “commercial alliance” with Toyota.
IST said it “aims to leverage automotive industry expertise, including Toyota’s production methods, to evolve rocket manufacturing into a high-quality, cost-effective and scalable process.”
A Toyota logo is pictured in Brussels on March 4, 2024. (REUTERS/Yves Herman/Archive photo / Reuters photos)
“We are excited to collaborate with Interstellar Technologies on mass production of rockets,” said Hajime Kumabe, CEO of Woven by Toyota. “This business alliance will leverage the Toyota Group’s extensive manufacturing capabilities and combine our expertise to advance rocket production and further drive mobility transformation.” »
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As part of the capital and business tie-up, Woven will appoint a director to IST’s board of directors and support rocket production by strengthening supply chains and corporate governance, IST said in a statement.
The announcement comes after Toyota President Akio Toyoda’s speech Monday at the CES show in Las Vegas, during which he provided an update on the company’s experimental project, Woven City, announced in 2020.
“The future of mobility should not be limited to just Earth or just one automaker,” Toyoda said. “Speaking of the sky, we also explore rockets.”
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Toyota’s investment is not the first time Toyota and Interstellar have worked together. The companies have been conducting “staff exchanges” since 2020, the rocket startup said.
This announcement comes after the speech given Monday by Toyota President Akio Toyoda at the CES show in Las Vegas. (Piotr Swat/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
In its announcement Tuesday of the planned $44.3 million investment, Interstellar said the Japanese government wants to conduct about 30 rocket launches per year “by the early 2030s” in order to “meet demand growing number of launches both nationally and internationally.
Last year, three rockets were launched in Japan, according to Interstellar.
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The rocket company said in August that its Series E fundraising efforts had netted it 3.1 billion yen in funding. This round involved the allocation of shares to third parties, according to its press release at the time.
Reuters contributed to this report.
