Toyota has bumped up investments in venture capital with the launch of a new early-stage fund and a second fund for Woven Capital, its growth-stage investment arm.
Japanese carmaker Toyota has established a $670m fund to invest in early stage startups and a $800m fund focused on later-stage startup investments.
The new ¥100bn ($670m) Toyota Invention Partners fund, a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota, will invest primarily in early-stage startups in Japan and elsewhere. The evergreen fund will offer startups access to its manufacturing facilities.
The other fund was launched by Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth-stage venture investment arm, which established a second ¥120bn ($800m) investment vehicle, the same size of its first fund established in 2021. Woven Capital became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota in July 2025.
The Woven Capital fund aims to invest in between 20 and 25 companies at the series B to late-stage stage. Its investment areas include AI, automation, climate technology, energy and sustainability.
Toyota’s boost to VC investments follows a string of others corporates that have recently launched new funds including French pharmaceutical company Sanofi adding $625m to its evergreen fund, and UK-based investment bank Standard Chartered launching a $250m digital assets investment fund.
Toyota now has three investment subsidiaries: Toyota Ventures, a California-based, early-stage VC backing startups in climate, space, materials and renewable energy sectors; Tokyo-based growth-stage investment fund Woven Capital, which has a traditional 10 year investment horizon; and the new Tokyo Invention Partners, also based in Tokyo and headed by CEO Kenta Kon.
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