Joby Aviation Secures Over $100M in Funding
Joby Aviation is one of the most significant companies in the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) space, and the funding milestone described in this article, over $100 million in Series B investment backed by Intel and Toyota, was only the beginning. Since that 2018 round, Toyota has committed a total approaching $900 million to Joby, making it one of the most heavily capitalised eVTOL programs on the planet.
The Aircraft: How the Joby eVTOL Works
Joby's aircraft uses a tilt-rotor configuration: six rotors that align vertically for takeoff and landing, then tilt forward once airborne to provide forward thrust in fixed-wing cruise mode. This transition from helicopter to aeroplane gives the Joby S4 its performance numbers: a top speed of 200 mph (320 km/h) and a range of up to 150 miles (240 km) on a single charge. The five-seat configuration, one pilot and four passengers, makes it a credible air taxi rather than a single-person personal aircraft.
100 Times Quieter Than a Helicopter
Noise is the primary obstacle to urban air mobility acceptance. A helicopter hovering over a city is heard across entire neighbourhoods. The Joby S4 is certified to be 100 times quieter than a conventional aircraft in the same operation, making helipad-to-helipad operations in dense urban environments genuinely feasible rather than aspirational. The company has spent years in continuous R&D refining the acoustic signature of the tilt-rotor system, running extensive flight testing programmes at its facilities in California.
Funding, Backers and the Road to Certification
The $100 million Series B round featured Intel Capital and Toyota AI Ventures, a signal that both a leading semiconductor company and a major automotive manufacturer saw eVTOL as a credible category. Toyota's involvement deepened significantly: by 2020 the automaker had provided $394 million, and in 2024 a further $500 million commitment brought Toyota's total investment close to $900 million. That backing has accelerated Joby toward FAA type certification, which the company is pursuing in parallel with manufacturing facility development. The data-driven approach to aircraft development and safety analysis, which Joby described in its Series B announcement, remains central to its certification strategy.
For those tracking the personal aviation category Joby represents, TheArsenale's airplanes and personal aircraft collection includes eVTOL and advanced aviation products including the XPENG X2 eVTOL flying car and the Ehang AAV autonomous passenger drone.
eVTOL.news maintains a detailed technical profile of the Joby S4 at evtol.news. Electrek covered Toyota's most recent $500 million investment in depth at electrek.co.
