Is your startup building solutions for smart, connected cities? Apply for our 2020 call for innovation!
With more than half of the world’s population living in urban areas, a trend that is expected to grow to 68% by 2050, the technology to power smart and connected cities is needed now more than ever. That’s why we’re excited to announce Toyota AI Ventures’ new global “call for innovation” to find and fund early-stage startups that are helping improve the quality of life for people in urban communities.
The Toyota AI Ventures 2020 call for innovation launches today at CES 2020 in Las Vegas, where we’ll be exhibiting in the Toyota booth, along with three of our portfolio companies: Intuition Robotics, May Mobility, and Perceptive Automata. It’s our way of signaling to entrepreneurs working in this space that we’re looking to invest up to $2M to help bring their technologies to market. We’re also partnering on the call with Toyota Research Institute — Advanced Development (TRI-AD) and Toyota Research Institute (TRI), and selected startups might get an opportunity to collaborate with them on future projects.
Our first call for innovation in 2018 with TRI sought startups developing mobile manipulation technologies for robotics, and led to our investment in Elementary Robotics, a Los Angeles-based company developing an AI-powered robotics platform for automating repetitive tasks. This year, we’re targeting startups that are using AI, cloud, data, autonomy, mobility, and robotics technologies to help build smart, connected cities that address urban challenges like pollution and traffic congestion.
Examples of the types of solutions we’re looking to invest in include:
- Autonomous and personal vehicles
- Electric and shared mobility services
- Smarter home and building construction
- Assistive robotics
- IoT data and analytics
- Smart city infrastructure
If your product or service is a fit for this call and your startup has raised less than $3M in funding, has a working prototype, and a viable business model, we encourage you to learn more and apply on our call for innovation page. The call is open now through April 30, 2020, and we will review submissions on a rolling basis.
It’s important to note that this is not a competition or contest. We may invest in more than one company, or we may not make an investment at all. As with any startup we consider for funding, we’ll be evaluating companies that apply for the call based on their team, technology, business model, go-to-market strategy, overall market opportunity, and other factors that are critical for success. Applicants will also be subject to our usual rigorous investment due diligence process.
Ready to respond to the call? Apply today on the Toyota AI Ventures website.
Also, if you’re at CES 2020 this week, remember to stop by Booth #6919 in the Las Vegas Convention Center North Hall to meet with our team and learn more about Intuition Robotics, May Mobility, and Perceptive Automata.
