Toyota Ventures

Our portfolio company AM Batteries , which is creating dry battery electrodes, has entered a joint development agreement with TDK Corporation to pave a path toward energy-efficient battery manufacturing. The partnership aims to enhance sustainability, improve battery manufacturing scalability, and accelerate the development of solid-state batteries. AM Batteries’ proprietary dry coating technology eliminates the need for solvents and electrode drying – reducing energy consumption by 75 percent and capital expenditures by 30 percent in the battery electrode manufacturing process. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dfD-Uanp

The list of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies in space for 2025 reflect global efforts over the last year to diversify and secure launch and orbital services. We’re thrilled to see our portfolio company, Apex - Spacecraft Manufacturing, a part of the list! Apex is revolutionizing the satellite industry by manufacturing satellite buses that not only reduce costs but also cut lead times, making space technology more accessible and efficient. This recognition underscores the company's contributions to delivering reliable buses and infrastructure for the industry. Read the full list: https://lnkd.in/ewvp459H

Our founder and general partner Jim Adler recently shared takeaways from his fireside chat at SXSW. Read below 👇

🌍 Decarb or go home! Join the waiting list! 🌍 We're thrilled to announce a £14 million Series A investment led by Shell Ventures and Toyota Ventures, with participation from a global consortium of new investors including Al Mada Ventures, Blackfinch Ventures, Kibo Invest, Niterra / Global Brain Corporation, TOP Ventures (Thai Oil), Earth Venture Capital and Alumni Ventures as well as follow-on from our seed investors Lowercarbon Capital and Anglo American Platinum. This funding fuels our mission to pioneer hydrogen technology that enables industry to transition beyond fossil fuels. With the support of our world-class investors, we're scaling our breakthrough electrolyser technology to new heights and expanding our reach across continents.  Accelerated growth: We're scaling our hardware and bringing our technology to market faster.   Global impact: Expanding into new markets, driving the green hydrogen revolution worldwide. Join the waiting list! https://lnkd.in/eyKDEdA Strategic partnerships: Leveraging our investors' expertise and resources to enhance our technology and operations.  This is a major step forward in our journey to decarbonise the world's industries. We're confident that with this investment and the support of our partners, we’ll help support the existing users of hydrogen to go green.   #GreenHydrogen #CleanEnergy #ClimateTech #GlobalImpact #ScaleUp #Supercritical

We are excited to co-lead Supercritical Solutions’ £14 million Series A round with Shell Ventures. The company aims to lower the cost of green hydrogen by producing it directly at high pressure, using 20% to 30% less energy compared to traditional electrolyzers. The Supercritical electrolyzer is unique in that it performs electrolysis at a much higher temperature and pressure, making the process thermodynamically efficient and producing hydrogen that is already at 220 bar. Read more on Toyota Ventures' blog: https://lnkd.in/gpdxKKkx

“The good news about a hype cycle is it finds the answer as fast as possible,” said our founder and general partner Jim Adler in a discussion with Fortune's Allie Garfinkle. “A hype cycle brings in talent, it brings in capital. It’s the market’s way of finding the right answer as fast as possible. So, people say we’re in an AI bubble right now, and we probably are. And that’s great.” On Friday at the SXSW conference in Austin, the pair discussed how hype cycles ultimately are natural market mechanisms that maximize innovation, all things investment in emerging tech and what is coming in 2025. Read Allie's coverage of the chat: https://lnkd.in/gCRHj4W6

Our portfolio company Apex - Spacecraft Manufacturing is celebrating the one year anniversary of it's Aries SN1 spacecraft launch. Last March, the company launched Aries to demonstrate the design of the satellite, which can accommodate 150 kilograms of payload, and was also used by several customers. A year later, Aries is working “completely nominally,” said Ian Cinnamon, co-founder and CEO of Apex, in an interview. See a snapshot from the satellite below or read more in SpaceNews: https://lnkd.in/gVmPhV9a

Heading to SXSW next week? Catch our founder and general partner Jim Adler and Fortune's Allie Garfinkle on March 7th at 2:30 pm CT for a fireside chat as they discuss the future of early-stage startups and venture capital. They’ll cover Toyota Ventures' areas of interest at the moment and how corporate investors can support startups through potential market shifts.

🚀 Exciting news from our portfolio company Ion Storage Systems! The company has made a significant breakthrough, achieving a 25x increase in capacity with its latest battery cell. This milestone demonstrates exceptional performance and durability, surpassing 1,000 charge cycles without compression or volume change — a key hurdle in solid state battery adoption. Read more about the company and key highlights here: https://lnkd.in/eYwDVKYk

Our portfolio company AIRCO is rethinking carbon to produce high-demand, fully-formulated synthetic fuels from captured carbon and hydrogen on-site.  From creating breakthrough vodka to developing sustainable jet fuel, the Brooklyn-based company is proving that carbon can be a resource, not just a byproduct. In a recent interview with Cheddar, Air Company's CEO Gregory Constantine gave an inside look at their cutting-edge research lab and shared their vision for a world where CO2 is turned into valuable products that power the future. Watch the full video: https://lnkd.in/ghHqpDRk